<tii. 


A    MEMORIAL 


THE    RIGHT    REVEREND 


Carlton  Chase,  D.  D. 


FIRST  BISHOP  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 


1844    TO    18TO. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


PRESS   OF  THE 

CLAREMONT  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY. 


I. 


IN  the  midst  of  a  Winter  of  almost  unexampled 
mildness  and  beauty,  and  after  a  week  unsurpassed 
even  under  the  bright  skies  of  New-England,  the 
morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  January  opened 
dismal  with  cloud  and  storm.  For  a  time  the 
fleecy  snow,  pure  and  white  as  the  robes  of  the 
righteous,  fell  lightly  upon  the  earth,  but  soon 
followed  the  dropping  rain — symbol  of  sorrow, 
although  GOD'S  instrument  of  life — and  filled  the 
hour  with  gloom. 

Such  was  the  burial  day  of  the  first  Bishop  of 
New-Hampshire. 

At  an  early  hour  the  earthly  form  of  the  de- 
ceased, clothed  in  his  official  robes,  was  laid  in  a 
plain  casket  and  placed  upon  the  table  in  his 
study,  whither  his  friends,  the  spiritual  children 
of  -a  long  life  of  pastoral  faithfulness,  with  many 
of  his  brethren  in  the  Church,  came  to  bid  a  last 
farewell.  The  Masonic  fraternity  came  also,  to 
honor  the  remains  of  their  late  brother  and  com- 
panion. 


At  three  o'clock,  the  procession  was  formed  at 
the  house,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Haight  and 
tlubbard;  the  pall  bearers,  Rev.  Drs.  Herrick  and 
Eames  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Smith  and  Renouf ;  the 
remains ;  the  family  and  immediate  friends,  The 
Clergy  of  the  town  were  next  called — representa- 
tives of  Trinity  Church,  Claremont,  and  Imman- 
uel  Church,  Bellows  Falls — Classmates  at  Dart- 
mouth College,  and  other  graduates — Masonic 
bodies  and  citizens  generally.  These,  entering  the 
Church,  filled  it  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

The  remains  were  met  at  the  Church  door  by 
Bishops  Williams  of  Connecticut,  and  Bissell  of 
Vermont— the  latter  reading  the  sentences.  Be- 
side those  already  mentioned,  there  were  present, 
of  the  Clergy,  all  in  surplices,  Rev.  Dr.  Parker 
and  Rev.  Messrs.  Haughton,  Brown  and  Binet  of 
this  Diocese,  Rev.  E.  M.  P.  Wells,  D,  D,  and  Rev. 
H.  L.  Jones,  of  Massachusetts,  Rev.  Dr.  Jackson. 
President  of  Trinity  College,  of  Connecticut,  Rev. 
Dr.  Douglass,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hale,  of  Vermont, 
Rev.  Dr.  Twing,  of  New  York,  Rev.  Messrs.  Hop- 
kins and  Walnwright,  of  Albany,  and  Rev.  T. 
F.  Davies  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Church  was  elaborately  and  tastefully 
draped  in  black  and  white — those  mournful  em- 
blems producing  a  most  solemn  and  impressive 
effect,  especially  in  the  gas-lighted  chancel. 

Upon  the  platform,  just  without  the  altsir  rails, 
on  the  very  spot  where,  but  one  month  previ- 


ously,  when  the,  Christmas  services  were  ended,  he 
sat  to  witness  the  baptism  of  his  grand-daughter, 
rested  the  casket  which  contained  all  that  was 
mortal  of  the  departed  Prelate. 

The  Canticle  commencing  "LoRD,  let  me  know 
my  end  and  the  number  of  my  days,"  was  chanted 
by  the  choir  and  congregation.  The  Lesson  was 
read  by  the  Rev.  Benj.  I  Haight,  D.  D.  of  New- 
York.  The  Hymn  was  the  one  hundred  and 
forty-second  of  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern  : 

"Brief  life  is  here  otir  portion; 

Brief  sorrow,  short-lived  care ; 
The  life  that  knows  no  ending, 

The  tearless  life,  is  there. 

Oh  happy  retribution ! 

Short  toil,  eternal  rest : 
For  mortals  and  for  sinners 

A  mansion  with  the  blest. 

And  now  we  fight  the  battle, 
But  then  shall  wear  the  crown 

Of  full  and  everlasting 
And  passionless  renown ; 

And  now  we  watch  and  struggle, 
And  now  we  live  and  hope, 

And  Sion  in  her  anguish 
With. Babylon  must  cope; 


6 


But  He  whom  now  we  trust  in 
Shall  then  be  seen  and  known ; 

And  they  that  know  and  see  Him 
Shall  have  Him  for  their  own. 

The  morning  shall  awaken, 
The  shadows  shall  decay, 

And  each  true-hearted  servant 
Shall  shine  as  doth  the  day ; 

There  GOD,  our  King  and  Portion, 

In  fulness  of  His  grace, 
Shall  we  behold  forever, 

And  worship  face  to  face. 

O  sweet  and  blessed  country, 
The  home  of  GOD'S  elect ! 

0  sweet  and  blessed  country, 
That  eager  hearts  expect ! 

Jesu,  in  mercy  bring  us 
To  that  dear  land  of  rest; 

"Who  art,  with  GOD  the  FATHER, 
And  SPIRIT,  ever  blest."     Amen. 


The  Bt.  Eev.  John  Williams,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Connecticut,  then  delivered  the  following 


When  the  House  of  Bishops  met  at  the  last  gen- 
eral Convention,  with  —  for  the  first  time  in  nine 
years  —  every  diocese  represented,  a  shadow  was 
cast  upon  the  great  joy  of  their  reunion  by  the 
remembrance,  that  in  that  nine  years'  interval, 
sixteen  of  their  order  had  passed  away  from  the 
scenes  and  labors  of  their  earthly  stewardships. 
Death  had,  indeed,  been  busy  in  their  ranks.  And 
well  might  their  Pastoral  letter  say.  "  A  mortality 
so  unusual  impresses  your  Bishops  with  a  deep 
sense  of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  their 
own  future  upon  earth." 

It  was  not,  however,  to  the  past  alone  that 
thoughts  were  turned  by  the  impressive  warning. 
They  struggled  onward  also  towat-ds  the  unknown 
and  silent  future.  Memory  recalled  the  well  re- 
membered forms  and  features  of  the  departed, 
and  filled  with  them,  for  the  moment,  the  places 
where  they  should  never  more  be  known.  The 
bodily  eye  rested  upon  those  who  held  the  stations 
left  vacant  by  the  dead.  And  both  what  was 
remembered  and  what  was  seen  waked  in  many 
hearts  the  question  —  with  solemn  recollection  of 
their  own  relation  to  it,  with  searching  application 
of  it  to  themselves  — 

"Who  next  shall  drop  and  disappear?" 

That  question  the  providence  of  God  has  answered 
in  the  bereavement  which  has  now  fallen  upon  a 


s 


household,  a  diocese,  nay,  on  the  Church  at  large. 
And  the  answer  brings  us  here  to-day,  to  commit 
to  its  long  home  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  first 
Bishop  of  New-Hampshire.  It  is  the  third  time 
in  five  years,  that,  here,  in  New-England,  the  new 
year's  first  month  has  witnessed  such  a  service. 
And  it  is,  perhaps,  even  a  more  striking  coinci- 
dence that  this  day  which  brings  the  last  rites  of 
honor  to  one  who  has  laid  off  the  armor  of  the 
episcopate,  sees  another  girding  it  on  for  a  distant 
field  of  the  warfare  of  the  militant  Church  of 
Christ. 

May  I  dare,  my  brethren,  to  say,  for  myself, 
that  I  come  to  join  you  in  this  sad  service,  with  a 
heart  full  of  love  for  my  venerated  brother  who 
has  been  taken  from  us,  as  well  as  of  living  sym- 
pathy with  those  on  whom  the  weight  of  this  day's 
sorrow  rests  ?  The  memories  of  an  unbroken 
friendship  of  more  than  a  score  of  years  come  back 
as  I  speak,  with  a  deeper  tenderness.  Nor  can  I 
forget,  as  I  stand  beside  the  honored  dust  of  my 
dear  brother,  uttering  words  which  his  ear  can 
no  longer  hear,  how  in  the  most  solemn  moment 
of  my  life  he  once  stood  at  my  side,  and  joined 
with  the  lamented  Burgess — I  almost  seem  to  hear 
their  voices  now — in  presenting  me  to  the  revered 
and  sainted  Brownell,  to  be  set  apart  for  the  work 
of  the  episcopate.  Pardon  me,  my  brethren,  these 
words  so  wholly  personal.  "  Out  of  the  abundance 
of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh." 

The  eye  runs  back  to-day  over  a  lengthened 
life.  "With  a  physical  constitution  always  delicate, 
and  so  severely  shaken  in  early  manhood  as  to 
give  little  hope  of  long-continued  labor,  Bishop 
Chase  still  lived  six  years  beyond  the  allottedage 
of  man.  Nor  has  he  been  taken,  till  gathering 


infirmities  had  made  it  plain  that  had  more  years 
been  granted  him,  they  must  have  been  passed 
under  those  conditions  in  which  men  are  "  afraid 
of  that  which  is  high,"  and  "  fears  "  are  "  in  the 
way,"  and  "  the  grasshopper  "  becomes  "a  burden," 

Doubtless  "  they  serve  who  only  wait  and  pray." 
And  such  a  service,  in  its  patient  suffering  and 
almost  literally  unceasing  prayer,  is  a  very  precious 
service;  bringing  to  the  Church  gifts  and  minis- 
trations which  enter  into  its  deepest  life,  and  share 
in  its  grandest  achievements  for  the  Cross.  Still 
these  are,  and  ever  will  be,  the  exceptional  cases ; 
and  it  must,  as  a  rule,  be  counted  a  merciful  dis- 
pensation of  GOD,  when  any  man,  and  beyond  all 
other  men  a  bishop,  is  not  required  long  to  sur- 
vive his  ability  for  active  service.  It  is,  at  least, 
a  blessing  to  himself.  "  To  depart  and  to  be  with 
CHRIST  is,"  indeed,  "  far  better." 

The  life  of  which  I  am  speaking  was  also  a 
peaceful,  and  as  men  would  say,  an  uneventful 
life.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  it  was  passed  among 
"the  green  pastures  "  of  this  lovely  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  "  beside  the  still  waters  "  of  its 
queenly  river.  One  rectorship  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  duration,  from  1819  to  1844,  and  then 
an  episcopate,  with  which  was  held,  conjointly, 
for  many  years,  the  rectorship  of  this  parish,  cov- 
ering a  little  more  than  another  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, these — with  one  temporary  exception — are 
all  the  changes  which  Bishop  Chase's  ministerial 
life  presents.  These — how  strangely  the  statement 
sounds  in  these  worrying,  tortured  days  of  inces- 
sant change — sum  up  the  fifty  years  of  faithful 
service  in  the  Church  of  GOD. 

Is  it  not  a  privilege,  greater  than  tongue  can 
tell,  to  leave  behind  one  so  fair,  so  pure  a  record 


10 

as  your  Bishop,  brethren,  leaves,  of  patient,  well- 
done  labor?  Is  it  not  a  privilege  to  look  and 
meditate  on  such  a  record  ?  This  vision  of  a  long 
and  faithful  pastorship,  this  "  image  of  a  long  and 
pure  episcopate,  left  on  the  most  sacred  recollec- 
tions in  parish  Churches,  in  Christian  families,  in 
secret  hearts,"  does  one  dream  of  lack  of  event- 
fulness  when  lie  thinks  of  these?  What  natural 
days  are  those  to  which  men  love  best  to  go  back 
in  memory?  Are  they  days  marked  with  the 
scenic  displays  of  nature,  resounding  with  the 
crash  of  storm  and  thunders,  and  brilliant  with 
the  glare  of  lightnings  ?  Or  are  they  not  rather 
days'  that  are  "  bridaf  days  of  earth  and  sky"  in 
which  the  calm  morning  has  passed  on  to  the  quiet 
noontide,  and  that  again  to  the  peaceful  sunset, 
and  where  all  is  so  blended  together;  that  even  if 
no  one  thing  stands  very  prominently  out,  the 
whole  impression  is  one  of  blessing  and  of  peace? 
"What  streams  bear  fullest  floods  to  join  the  ocean? 
Are  they  those  that  dash  and  scatter  themselves 
away  with  foam  and  fury  in  headlong  courses? 
Or  are  they  not  rather  those,  that  with  a  gentle, 
placid  flow, — so  gentle  that  a  superficial  gazer  hard- 
ly thinks  they  move  at  all,  so  placid  that  in  their 
quiet  depths  they  mirror  all  the  beauties  and  the 
glories  which  the  hand  of  GOD  has  spread  on 
earth  or  scattered  in  the  skies — sweep  onward 
with  their  brimming  fulness  to  the  sea?  And  as 
it  is  with  them  so  is  it  with  human  lives.  O  !  in 
this  age  of  reckless  change,  and  noisy  pretension, 
and  bustling  self-assertion,  and  pushing  after 
notoriety,  place,  influence,  the  spectacle  of  a  calm, 
quiet  life  of  contented  discharge  of  duty  which 
shuns  the  observation  of  the  world ;  which  bears 
its  own  burdens,  and  does  its  own  work,  seeking 


11 

no  changes,  but  only  taking  those  which  God  may 
send ;  which  does  not  strive  to  create  duties  for 
itself  that  may  bring  it  before  men's  eyes,  but 
does  quietly,  in  its  Own  place,  the  duties  which 
GOD  allots  to  it ;  which  thinks  not  of  itself  more 
highly  than  it  ought  to  think,  but  loves  to  think 
soberly,  to  take  the  lowly  place  and  do  the  humble 
work;  such  a  life  is  indeed  a  blessed  thing  to  look 
upon.  When  we  contrast  it  with  that  other  style 
of  life,  it  is  like  leaving  some  gaudy,  man-made 
spectacle  with  its  coarse  daubing,  its  glare  of  gas- 
light, and  poisoned  atmosphere,  and  coming  out 
upon  some  peaceful,  rural  scene,  swept  over  by 
the  fresh,  pure  airs  of  heaven,  and  bathed  in  God's 
own  sunlight.  If  this  age  has  fewer  of  such  lives 
to  show  than  some  others  may  have  had,  and  I 
fear  it  is  even  so,  then  let  us  be  the  more  thankful, 
and  the  more  bless  and  praise  the  GOD  of  every 
grace,  that  our  departed  Father  lived,  in  his  ele- 
vated station,  such  a  life,  and  left  its  record  and 
its  memories  to  his  children,  to  his  Diocese,  and 
the  Church  of  GOD. 

We  recognize  in  every  Christian  life,  primarily 
and  above  all  other  things,  the  grace  of  GOD  ;  but 
we  also  recognize,  along  with  it,  the  working  of 
the  individual  besides.  And  so  it  comes  to  pass 
that  while  there  is  one  pattern,  even  the  Blessed 
Lord,  and  one  grace,  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  still 
all  GOD'S  servants  have  their  own  separate  and 
distinguishing  notes  of  character.  And  it  has 
always  seemed  to  me  that  there  was  in  my  depart- 
ed brother's  character  that  same  balance  and 
proportion  that  I  have  been  noting  in  his  life. 
Calm,  equable,  judicious,  acting  from  well-consid- 
ered convictions  and  not  from  hasty  impulses,  a 
man  of  more  thoughts  than  words,  not  eager  to 


12 

push  forward  his  opinions,  but  ready  with  them 
when  the  proper  time  for  their  expression  came 
as  his  character  commanded  respect,  so  his 
decisions  commanded  confidence.  And  the  same, 
balance  that  marked  him  intellectually,  marked 
him  also  as  a  Christian  man.  All  was  quiet,  well 
poised  and  placid,  nothing  fitful  and  spasmodic. 
Not  much  moved  or  flashed,  perhaps,  on  the  sur- 
face; there  were  no  very  striking  emotional 
demonstrations;  but  down  in  the  depths  where 
GOD'S  eye  looks,  though  man's  cannot,  there  was 
a  life,  that  was  strong,  and  vigorous,  and  true — 
a  life  that  controlled  the  man — a  life  that  had  its 
being  from  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that, 
for  its  ultimate  result,  its  glory  and  its  crown  of 
achievement,  brought  him,  body,  soul,  and  spirit 
into  subjection  to  the  law  of  Christ.  His  was  not 
one  of  those  natures  that  take  light  and  passing 
impressions  from  all  that  comes  and  goes.  It  took 
on  impressions  quietly  and  slowly,  but  what  it 
took  it  held.  Above  all  other  words,  the  word 
that  I  think  best  describes  him  is  steadfast. 

And  this  character,  which  I  have  so  briefly 
sketched,  as  it  shaped  his  life,  so,  also,  it  shaped 
his  episcopate.  It  gave  it  cohesion  and  consist- 
ency. He  had  no  delight  in  ecclesiastical  experi- 
ments. He  rode  no  hobbies.  He  spent  no  time  in 
trying  to  invent  labor-saving  schemes  for  achiev- 
ing great  spiritual  results  at  the  least  possible 
expense  of  individual  exertion.  He  set  himself 
to  discover  no  wonderful  panacea  by  a  single 
administration  of  which  all  the  diseases  of  the 
Church,  perhaps  of  the  world,  would  be  cured  on 
the  instant.  He  entered  into  no  plan  to  pull  away 
from  the  Church  what  does  belong  to  it,  nor  to 
patch  on  what  does  not  belong  to  it.  But  as  a 


13 


true-hearted  and  loyal  Churchman,  for  that  he  was 
in  his  whole  soul  and  life;  as  a  humble,  self-sacri- 
ficing Christian,  looking  only  to  the  Crucified  for 
all  hope  of  salvation,  and  treading  the  pathway  of 
the  Cross  as  well  as  resting  on  its  unfathomable 
merits,  he  walked  "in  the  old  paths;"  not  foolishly 
conservative,  not  obstinately  set  against  every 
thing  that  might  seem  to  involve  a  change  of 
method,  not  turning  his  back  on  any  wise  and 
well-considered  adaptation  of  the  Church's  modes 
of  working  "  to  the  diversity  of  countries,  times 
and  men's  manners;"  but  distrusting  change  for 
change's  sake,  and  setting  his  face  as  a  flint  against 
any  thing,  however  specious,  that  did  not  recog- 
nize and  place  in  the  fore  front  the  duty  of  keep- 
ing the  faith  "whole  and  undefiled." 

And  all  this  gave  his  opinions  weight  among 
his  brethren,  and  in  the  councils  of  the  Church. 
He  made  not  many  words  in  his  place  in  council, 
but  when  he  did  speak  he  spoke  to  purpose,  and 
he  was  listened  to.  His  quiet,  gentle  tones,  utter- 
ing well-considered  conclusions, — for  he  dealt  with 
them  more  than  with  argument  even,  far  more 
than  with  appeal, — carried  more  weight  than  ten 
times  the  amount  of  rhetoric  and  "declamation. 
His  well-weighed  words  impressed  others  all  the 
more  because  they  were,  as  a  rule,  so  few.  Many 
of  his  brethren  have  spoken  of  and  mourned  the 
loss  that  has  fallen  upon  us,  in  losing  the  aid  of 
his  well-balanced  judgment  and  reflecting  mind. 

In  the  special  field  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
had  made  him  Overseer,  it  was  not  his  to  rear  the 
superstructure,  to  carry  on  to  completion  lines  of 
work  that  were  already  well  begun  and  well 
pushed  forward,  to  lay  the  top-stone  amid  rejoicing 
shouts,  to  bring  home  the  joyous  harvest  at  the 


I 


14 

eventide.  His — like,  in  its  narrower  sphere,  to 
that  of  the  great  Apostle  for  whom  the  Church 
thanks  GOD  to-day — was  initial,  not  consummating 
labor.  It  was  his,  amidst  trials  and  discourage- 
ments of  no  ordinary  character,  in  a  region  from 
which  the  eye  of  the  Church  was  drawn  away  by 
the  rush  of  emigration  westward,  to  strengthen 
the  things  that  remained  from  other  days,  to  lay 
foundations  where  it  was  possible  to  do  it,  almost 
literally  to  "sow  in  tears."  And  0!  how  much 
better  in  such  a  work  was  patient  continuance 
than  headlong  haste,  steadiness  of  movement  than 
vaster  plans  perpetually  changing;  a  willingness 
to  bear  with  the  necessities  of  the  "  day  of  small 
things,"  than  mere  dreaming  of  some  far  distant 
future.  If  it  is  not  understood  now,  the  day  will 
come  when,  tracing  back  the  successive  steps  by 
which  this  Diocese  shall  have  reached  the  strength 
which  I  trust  and  believe  GOD  has  in  store  for  it, 
men  will  find  the  living  source  of  all  they  rejoice 
in  and  are  thankful  for,  in  the  episcopate — faith- 
ful, diligent,  unobtrusive — of  its  first  Bishop;  and 
so  the  thanks  which  we  offer  here  to  GOD  for  his 
holy  life  and  blessed  memory,  shall  be  echoed 
from  the  lips  of  unborn  generations,  bearing  him 
witness  that  "  he  is  numbered  among  the  children 
of  GOD,  and  his  lot  is  among  the  saints  !  " 

But  now,  the  peaceful  life",  the  faithful  steward- 
ship, are  ended.  Their  records  are  closed  and 
sealed  for  the  final  reckoning.  GOD  be  thanked, 
that  in  the  sorrow  which  clouds  this  day  there  is 
only  joy  for  him ;  that  with  the  tears  which  fall,  no 
bitterness  but  that  of  bereaved  affection  mingles. 
~No  more  for  him  the  weary  day  or  watchful  night ; 
no  more  the  burdened  heart  nor  mind  perplexed; 
no  more  the  patient  waiting  and  the  hope  defer- 


15 


red;  no  more  the  chief  shepherd's  wearing  watch, 
and  crushing  load  of  care  and  responsibility  that 
he  must  bear  alone  ;  no  more  the  dread  of  some- 
thing left  undone  that  might  have  been  accom- 
plished. But  now,  gift  of  gifts  and  joy  of  joys  for 
him,  there  come  on  earth,  the  folded  hands  and 
the  closed  eyelids,  the  stilled  heart  and  the  un- 
racked  brain  ;  and  in  Paradise,  the  rest  in  Jesus, 
and  the  blessed  antepasts  of  Heaven.  And  there 
will  come  in  the  day  of  GOD,  may  the  dear  LORD 
grant  it  to  us  all!  the  accepted  stewardship  and 
the  unfading  crown  1 

The  Rev.  I.  G.  Hubbard,  D.  t>.,  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Claremont,  then  delivered  the 
following 


It  is  a  painful  office,  assigned  me  by  my  mourn- 
ing friends  and  reverend  brethren,  to  attempt  to 
give  utterance  to  the  feelings  which  naturally 
oppress  us  all,  on  the  death  of  pur  beloved  Father 
in  GOD,  the  first  Bishop  of  this  Diocese.  What- 
ever he  may  have  been  to  others,  to  us  he  was 
endeared  by  the  sacred  bonds  of  his  official  rela- 
tionship, and  by  the  gentle,  affectionate  manner  in 
which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  his  high  and 
holy  office.  Many,  in  other  parts  of  the  Diocese, 
have  been  thus  drawn  toward  him  in  love  ;  some, 
to  whom  it  is  my  privilege  to  minister,  have  the 
added  tie  of  long  and  most  faithful  pastoral  minis- 
trations. For  all,  I  can  at  least  speak  most  sin- 
cerely, in  deepest  sympathy. 


16 


He  has  been  to  me  a  Spiritual  Father.  Pursu- 
ing my  theological  studies,  in  part,  under  his 
supervision,  I  was  among  the  first  on  whom  he 
laid  his  Apostolic  hands  in  ordination,  hoth  to  the 
Diaconate  and  the  Priesthood. 

His  long  Rectorship,  in  this  my  native  parish ; 
my  own  ministry  in  his  Diocese  during  nearly 
three  fourths  of  his  Episcopate ;  my  Rectorship 
here  for  the  past  two  years  and  more,  while  he 
still  lived  among  us; — all  these  circumstances 
have  brought  me  into  frequent  converse,  and 
finally  into  most  intimate  communion  with  him, 
and  have  given  me  the  right  to  speak  of  him,  as 
one  who  knows  whereof  he  affirms. 

But  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  dwell  on  personal 
considerations  except  as  they  tend  to  confirm  my 
testimony  and  commend  it  to  your  attention.  Let 
me  ask  you  to  go  back  with  me  a  little  more  than 
twenty-five  years  in  the  history  of  this  Diocese, 
when  our  late  Bishop  was  consecrated  in  the  Fall 
of  1844,  at  the  General  Convention  in  Philadel- 
phia. There  were  then,  in  the  Diocese,  eleven 
clergymen  besides  the  Bishop — now  there  are 
twenty-two.  Then  there  were  twelve  parishes — 
now  twenty-three.  Then  five  hundred  commu- 
nicants— now  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty.  The 
Church  edifices  then  existing,  with  the  exception 
of  St.  John's,  Portsmouth,  which  has  itself  been 
entirely  remodeled  in  the  interior  since,  were 
either  small,  temporary,  wooden  structures,  or  un- 
suited  in  form  and  appointments  for  the  uses  of 
Holy  Worship.  Since  that  period,  Churches  and 
Chapels  have  been  built,  many  of  them  beautifully 
designed,  and  constructed  in  a  costly  and  most 
substantial  manner,  and  consecrated  to  GOD'S  wor- 
ship, as  follows;  in  Concord,  two;  in  Claremont, 


17 


Manchester,  Keene,  Nashua,  Charlestown,  Epping, 
Holderness,  Pittsfield,  Exeter,  Dunbarton,  one 
each.  At  Sanbornton  Bridge  and  Hanover,  houses 
of  worship  have  been  purchased  and  refitted 
for  our  use,  and  in  Goffstown  a  Church  has  been 
built  but  not  yet  consecrated, — in  all,  fifteen.  The 
Church  in  Drewsville  has  been  greatly  improved 
and  beautified.  Two  parsonages  have  been  built, 
and  two  purchased.  There  have  been  ordained, 
within  the  Diocese,  twenty-five  Deacons,  and 
twenty  Priests,  and  sixteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  persons  have  been  confirmed. 

The  noble  institution  of  Stk  PauPs  School,  the 
beneficent  influence  of  which  is  felt  very  widely 
in  our  American  Church,  has  been  established 
and  fostered,  so  far  as  buildings  and  landed  estate 
are  concerned,  mainly  by  a  single  layman  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, a  devoted  friend  of  our  late  Bishop. 

All  these  items  by  no  means  fully  express  the 
contrast  between  now  and  then,  nor  indicate  the 
real  strength  of  the  Church  in  this  Diocese,  at  the 
present  moment.  In  the  first  place,  the  spiritual 
life  and  power  of  the  Church,  its  missionary  and 
aggressive  force,  have  been  much  more  than  pro- 
portionately increased. 

Any  one  who  remembers  the  Diocese  at  the  peri- 
od referred  to,  will  understand  me  when  I  say,  that 
the  Church  in  this  region  seemed  then  to  be  slum- 
bering at  her  post :  at  most,  she  only  thought  of 
standing  on  the  defensive.  With  but  a  few  feeble 
parishes,  scattered  and  isolated,  having  scarcely 
any  communication  with  one  another ;  without  a 
head,  or  any  efficient  missionary  organization ; 
with  the  impression  prevalent  in  some  parts  of  the 
Diocese,  that  our  Church  had  little  to  do  with 
the  masses  of  the  people,  and  little  hope  of 


18 


reaching  them;  the  older  and  stronger  parishes 
laid  on  a  pillow  of  ease,  and  their  energies  para- 
lyzed by  endowments,  so  situated  that  any  increase 
of  parishes  in  the  towns  about  them  would  de- 
crease their  own  income;  the  faces  of  Churchmen 
generally  in  the  country  turned  away  toward  the 
great  and  growing  West,  averted  from  the  sources 
of  religious  influence  springing  up  here  among 
the  hills,  and  to  a  large  extent  by  emigration  leav- 
ening the  whole  land"";  the  traditional  notion  cher- 
ished generally  in  the  community  that  this  was  the 
aristocratic  Church  of  Old  England,  the  nursery  of 
pride,  and  the  daughter  of  Babylon ;  surely  here 
was  an  outlook  which  might  well  discourage  the 
heart  of  any  man  called  to  superintend  the  work 
of  restoration  and  invigoration,  "who  had  not  the 
root  of  the  matter  in  him,  who  had  not  the  wise 
head  and  the  patient,  untiring  heart  of  a  servant 
of  the  MOST  HIGH  GOD. 

Brethren,  such  a  man  GOD  gave  us  in  our  now 
departed  Bishop.  Fitted  under  the  venerable 
Bishop  Griswold  for  the  sacred  office,  he  had 
caught  his  spirit  of  calm  endurance  and  patient 
waiting  upon  GOD.  His  first  official  act  was 
the  administration  of  the  rite  of  Confirmation 
in  Union  Church  in  this  town.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Smith,  (still  Rector  there,  and  with  us  here  to-day) 
after  the  service,  mentioned  the  interesting  fact 
that  thirty-three  years  before,  the  sainted  Bishop 
Griswold  held  his  first  Confirmation  in  the  same 
place.  Our  Bishop  says  in  his  journal,  "the  coin- 
cidence impressed  me  deeply,  and  I  could  not  leave 
the  altar  until  I  had  secretly  offered  a  prayer  that 
I  might  have  grace  to  walk  in  the  steps  of  his 
most  holy  life,  and  that  I  might  be  enabled,  as  he  so 
eminently  was,  to  give  myseff,  soul  and  body,  health 


19 


and  strength,  time  and  substance  to  the  work  of 
the  LORD."  A  hard  trial  of  his  power  of  endur- 
ance was  before  him.  For  more  than  ten  long 
years  the  Church  made  very  little  progress.  But 
steady,  unfailing  confidence  in  GOD  at  length  tri- 
umphed. It  is  within  the  last  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years  that  all  the  churches  I  have  mentioned  have 
been  built,  and  most  of  the  new  parishes  organized. 
The  Diocese  generally  has,  in  a  good  degree, 
awakened  to  the  work  of  the  LORD  committed 
unto  her,  and  though  a  great  part  of  the  land  yet 
remains  to  be  possessed,  the  leaven  is  working  and 
the  power  developing  more  and  more. 

And  here  let  me  say  that  as  our  beloved  Church, 
here  planted,  has  roused  herself  at  the  call  of  duty, 
rallied  around  her  Bishop  and  sustained  his  plans 
for  her  extension,  just  in  that  proportion  has  she 
gained  in  the  respect  and  estimation  of  our  citi- 
zens generally.  The  prudent,  considerate  course 
of  our  late  Bishop  forms  a  strong  element  in  the 
growing  appreciation  which  is  now  accorded  to 
her.  One  of  the  people  himself,  and  ever  ready 
to  identify  himself  in  sympathy  with  the  lowly, 
and  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  all  that  concerned 
the  well-being  of  society,  he  has  won  for  himself 
a  large  place  in  the  regard  and  veneration  of  men 
of  every  calling  in  life,  and  of  all  varieties  of 
religious  opinion. 

We  hardly  understand  yet,  brethren,  how  much 
we  are  indebted  for  the  present  position  of  our 
Church  in  this  State,  to  the  silent,  continuous, 
firm,  but  conciliatory  and  kindly  influence  of  her 
first  Bishop. 

Here  let  me  briefly  advert  to  the  closing  scenes 
of  his  long  life  of  usefulness. 

But  how  can  I  calmly  speak  of  those  intimate 


20 


conversations,  those  revealings  of  the  hidden  man 
of  the  heart,  often  under  sore  trial ;  those  disclos- 
ures, when  strength  was  failing,  of  his  deep  anxi- 
ety for  the  Churches ;  of  sleepless  nights  under  the 
burden  of  care  for  their  welfare ;  of  his  constant, 
tender,  personal  sympathy  and  encouragement  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years,  especially  as  the  shadows 
lengthened  and  deepened  around  him,  the  comfort 
of  which  can  never  be  effaced  from  my  heart.  All 
these  scenes  have  opened  to  me  a  truer  estimate  of 
his  character  than  I  had  ever  possessed.  They 
have  bound  me  to  him  with  links  of  iron,  aye  with 
far  more  enduring  bonds,  I  trust. 

The  circumstances  in  which  I  have  been  placed, 
in  relation  to  him,  have  not  been  such  as  always 
tend  to  draw  men  together,  but  I  think  it  is  a 
plain  evidence  of  his  goodness  of  heart,  that  in 
this  case  they  have  strengthened  and  confirmed 
the  affection  and  veneration  previously  felt  for 
him,  more  than  I  am  able  to  express. 

Let  me  only  say  in  conclusion  that  after  re- 
peated warnings,  of  which  he  often  spoke  to  me  in 
private,  with  perfect  calmness  and  composure,  and 
with  implicit  trust  in  the  Saviour  whom  he 
loved,  he  was  seized,  about  a  week  before  he  died, 
by  a  severe  attack  which  paralyzed  in  some  de- 
gree his  mental  faculties,  and  he  gently  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus,  surrounded  by  those  dear  children  whose 
unfailing  care  had  comforted  him  in  all  his  sor- 
rows and  infirmities,  with  the  Church's  prayers 
and  benediction  breathed  over  him,  commending 
him  with  unfaltering  trust  to  the  mercy  of  GOD, 
till  the  final  resurrection  of  the  just. 


THE  KEY.  BENJAMIN  I.  HAIGHT,  S.  T.  D., 

OF   NEW- YORK. 

We  have  met  to-day,  Christian  Brethren,  not 
simply  to  commit  the  remains  of  our  Right  Rev- 
erend Father  in  GOD,  to  the  ground,  according  to 
the  solemn  rites  of  the  Church ;  but  also,  beiore 
proceeding  to  this  sacred  duty,  to  dwell  for  a  few 
moments  on  his  life  and  character;  and  to  draw 
therefrom  the  lessons  of  wisdom  which  they  so 
impressively  teach. 

I  stand  here  not  to  eulogize  the  departed  Pre- 
late ;  but  to  present  a  few  particulars  of  his  work 
as  a  Christian  Minister  and  Bishop,  which  may 
not  be  inappropriate,  and  by  GOD'S  blessing,  wor- 
thy of  the  occasion,  and  not  without  benefit  to  us 
who  survive. 

I  do  not  propose  to  give  his  biography  in  full, 
but  to  recount  simply  some  of  the  leading  events 
of  his  life. 

The  Right  Reverend  Carlton  Chase  was  the  son 
of  Captain  Charles  and  Sarah  (Currier)  Chase,  of 
Hopkinton,  New-Hampshire.  He  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 20th,  1794,  at  the  house  of  his  grandfather, 
Captain  Jonathan  Chase,  on  "Dimond's  Hill." 
He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  until  he 
was  fifteen  years  of  age,  but  then  completed  his 
preparation  for  college  at  Salisbury  Academy, 
New-Hampshire,  in  the  summer  of  1813;  and 
entered  Dartmouth  College  in  September  of  the 
same  year.  "While  in  college  his  attention  was 
strongly  turned  to  religious  subjects;  and  to  the 


position  and  claims  of  the  Episcopal  Church;  and 
in  his  senior  year  (May,  1817)  he  rode  fifty  miles, 
on  horseback,  to  receive  Holy  Baptism,  at  the 
hands  of  the  Keverend  Joseph  R.  Andrus,  who 
afterwards  became  a  Missionary  of  this  Church  to 
Africa.  Though  he  had  intended  to  study  Law, 
up  to  this  time,  yet  now,  under  the  counsel  and 
advice  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Andrus,  he  deter- 
mined to  fit  himself  for  the  Ministry  of  the 
Church. 

He  was  graduated  at  Dartmouth,  in  the  summer 
of  1817,  standing  second  in  his  class, — the  Rev- 
erend Doctor  Marsh,  formerly  President  of  the 
University  of  Vermont,  a  very  able  and  accom- 
plished man,  being  first. 

He  studied  Theology  under  the  Right  Reverend 
Bishop  Griswold,  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  and  by 
him  was  ordained  Deacon,  in  St.  Michael's  Church, 
on  December  9th,  1818;  and  afterwards  Priest, 
September  27th,  1820,  at  Trinity  Church,  Newport, 
Rhode  Island.  After  officiating  for  a  short  time, 
first  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  at 
Springfield,  he  became  the  Rector  of  Immanuel 
Church,  Bellows  Falls,  Vermont,  on  September 
26th,  1819,  and  so  continued  for  the  space  of  near- 
ly twenty-five  years,  discharging  the  duties  of  his 
office  with  singular  ability,  great  acceptance,  and 
good  success. 

During  the  first  two  years  of  his  residence  at 
Bellows  Falls,  he  officiated,  one  third  of  the  time, 
at  the  neighboring  village  of  Drewsville,  New- 
Hampshire.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Standing 
Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  Vermont  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  residence  therein,  and  its  pres- 
ident for  the  last  ten  years.  He  was  chosen  a 
Deputy  to  the  General  Convention  from  the  ses- 


sion  of  1823  to  that  of  1844,  when  he  entered  the" 
House  of  Bishops.  He  received  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Vermont  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
in  1839,  and  subsequently  was  admitted  "  ad  eun- 
dem  "  at  Bishop's  College,  Lenoxville,  Canada. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1843,  he  was  unanimous- 
ly elected  Bishop  of  New-Hampshire,  and  was 
consecrated  at  the  ensuing  General  Convention,  at 
Philadelphia,  together  with  Bishops  Cobbs  and 
Hawks,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1844,  and  im- 
mediately entered  upon  his  duties,  in  which  the 
remaining  twenty-six  years  of  his  life  were  most 
assiduously  spent.  He  had  previously  fixed  his 
residence  at  Claremont,  having  accepted  the  rec- 
torship of  Trinity  Church  in  that  town,  which  he 
held  till  the  year  1863,  at  which  time  he  relin- 
quished it,  on  account  of  increasing  infirmities, 
the  Diocese  having  assumed  his  support* 

During  the  years  1849-62,  by  invitation  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  Authority  of  the  Diocese  of  New-» 
York,  which,  at  that  time,  was  deprived  of  the 
services  of  its  Bishop,  he  performed  Episcopal 
services  for  several  periods  of  varying  lengths : 
for,  so  acceptable  were  his  services  that,  the  Eccle- 
siastical Authority  renewed  their  invitation  several 
times,  and  pressed  it  upon  his  acceptance. 

The  health  of  the  good  Bishop  gradually  failed, 
during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  and  at  length  he 
fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  revered  and  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  him,  on  the  18th  day  of  January,  1870, 

And,  thus,  you  see,  dear  brethren,  that  the  whole 
life  of  the  departed  Bishop  was  spent  in  New  Eng- 
land. In  this  beautiful  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
he  was  educated,  taking  high  honors  from  old 
Dartmouth.  Here  was  the  scene  of  all  his  manly 
labors  in  behalf  of  Christ  and  the  Church,  Here, 


24 


amid  lovely  scenery,  amid  fertile  meadows  and 
vales,  and  under  the  shadow  of  its  graceful  mount- 
ains he  studied  and  taught  and  ministered  the 
blessed  Sacraments  and  went  about  among  the 
people  of  his  charge,  "doing  good"  after  the  ex- 
ample of  his  Divine  Master.  "  But  while  he  was 
thus  in  a  high  sense  all  your  own,  as  student, 
preacher,  pastor,  bishop,  he  was  yet,  so  to  speak, 
not  wholly  your  own.  In  his  quiet  seclusion 
amid  these  beauteous  scenes  which  he  knew  so 
well  how  to  prize  and  enjoy,  he  gave  his  best 
thoughts  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  at  large, 
and  laid  up  stores  of  wisdom,  which,  when  he 
took  his  seat  as  Counselor  of  the  Church,  whether 
in  her  Diocesan  or  General  Conventions,  he  was 
ready  to  give  forth  according  to  the  needs  arid 
requirements  of  the  occasion. 

A  sober-minded,  discreet,  thoughtful  man  of 
rare  independence  of  character,  swayed  by  no  pas- 
sions, trammeled  by  no  party,  his  words  in  council 
were  words  of  wisdom,  which  always  commanded 
the  attention,  and  almost  universally  the  hearty 
assent,  of  those  to  whom  they  were  spoken.  Prob- 
ably, there  was  no  one  in  the  House  of  Bishops  in 
which  he  sat  for  twenty-five  years,  who  was  ever 
listened  to  by  the  assembled  prelates  with  deeper 
and  more  respectful  attention.  And  most  touch- 
ing was  the  homage  which  was  paid  to  him  as  he 
entered  the  House  on  the  last  occasion  of  his  pres-' 
ence,  in  the  general  Convention  of  1868.  He  did 
not  arrive  until  some  days  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  and  it  was  not  known  that  he 
was  in  the  city,  when  he  entered  the  room  in 
which  the  Bishops  were  assembled  busily  engaged 
in  deliberation.  As  he  walked  into  their  midst 
the  speaker  paused,  the  business  was  suspended, 


25 


and  every  bishop  arose  from  his  chair  to  do  him 
reverence  as  he  walked  with  trembling  steps 
towards  his  seat  near  the  President.  It  was  an 
involuntary  act  of  homage  to  an  honored  brother 
for  whom  they  entertained  the  deepest  regard. 

During  one  portion  of  his  life  he  was  several 
times  called  away  from  the  quietude  of  his  own 
diocese  to  enter  upon  busier  scenes,  amid  much 
greater  excitement,  in  another  section  of  the 
Church.  During  the  three  years  from  1849  to 
1852,  he  made,  by  request  of  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority of  New- York,  five  distinct  visitations  amid 
its  parishes.  It  was  during  the  time  of  a  very 
sore  affliction  of  that  diocese.  Its  Bishop  was  in- 
definitely suspended.  The  excitement  among  his 
clergy  and  the  people  was  very  deep.  There  was 
angry  controversy  and  bitter  contention,  rendered 
the  more  acrimonious  by  the  doubt  and  uncer- 
tainty which  hung  over  the  future.  It  was,  indeed, 
a  time  which  tried  men's  souls.  To  enter  the 
diocese  under  such  circumstances  for  the  perform- 
ances of  Episcopal  Services,  to  go  about  among 
its  clergy  and  parishes,  preaching,  confirming,  or- 
daining, and  to  do  this  so  prudently,  and  wisely, 
and  lovingly,  as  not  only  not  to  add  to  existing 
excitements,  but  to  allay  them,  and  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  Minister  of  peace  and  blessing,  required 
no  ordinary  qualities  of  heart  and  mind.  And 
yet  this  he  accomplished,  never  leaving  behind 
him  any  other  result  of  his  ministrations  but 
grace  and  truth.  The  Diocese  of  New- York  thus 
became  very  largely  his  debtor,  and  I  am  here 
to-day  as  its  representative,  by  his  open  grave  to 
acknowledge  our  indebtedness,  and  to  witness  to 
our  high  sense  of  the  dignity  and  wisdom  of  his 
character,  and  the  value  of  his  services.  And  I 


bear  with  me  from  his  friend,  the  Bishop  of  New- 
York,  the  following  letter,  in  which  he  utters  the 
same  testimony. 

NEW- YORK,  38  EAST  22o  ST.,  Jan.  22,  1870. 
MY  DEAR  DOCTOR  HAIGHT: — 

I  am  very  thankful  that  you  have 
it  in  your  power  to  attend  the  last  offices  to  the  mortal 
remains  of  our  dear  departed  friend  and  brother,  Bishop 
Chase  of  New-Hampshire.  It  is  a  painful  thing  to  me 
that  I  am  denied  the  privilege  of  accompanying  you  on 
that  sad  journey.  I  can  hardly  express  how  highly  I 
valued  him  for  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  for  the 
manly  frankness  and  integrity  of  his  character,  for  his 
whole-hearted  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Church, 
and  for  the  kindness  and  sincerity  of  his  dispositions.  It 
seems  to  me  that  in  his  death  I  have  suffered  a  great  per* 
sonal  loss,  and  I  feel,  if  possible,  still  more  deeply,  that 
the  House  of  Bishops  has  suffered  a  great  loss. 

While  he  was  never  inclined  to  make  himself  obtrusive 
in  the  Councils  of  the  Church,  and  was  averse  to  much 
speaking,  yet  his  judgments  were  so  calm  and  so  deeply 
founded  in  reason  and  principle  that  his  opinions  always 
had  great  weight  with  his  brethren. 

When  I  heard  of  his  election  to  the  Episcopate  of 
New-Hampshire,  I  at  once  wrote  to  him,  expressing  my 
earnest  hope  that  he  would  accept  the  heavy  responsi- 
bility. I  knew  his  habits  as  a  thoughtful  student  and  an 
affectionate  Christian  pastor,  and  I  feared  that  he  might 
shrink  from  the  change. 

From  that  day  to  this  I  have  ever  thought  of  him  with 
reverence  and  love ;  and  it  is  now  a  consolation  to  me 


27 


that  I  wrote  to  him,  to  express  my  feelings,  just  previous 
to  his  last  attack,  and  that  I  had,  in  return,  through  his 
son,  a  most  kindly  response. 

When  I  came  myself  into  the  Episcopate,  and  en- 
tered upon  my  visitations  in  this  Diocese,  I  met,  almost 
everywhere,  warm  expressions  of  respect  and  regard  for 
Bishop  Chase,  who  had  made  extensive  visitations  in  this 
Diocese,  during  the  years  in  which  we  were  deprived  of 
the  services  of  a  Bishop  of  our  own.  Everywhere  he 
had  made  warm  friends,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  old  Dio- 
cese of  New- York  the  news  of  his  departure  will  be 
received  with  lively  sensibility. 

In  that  day  you  were  in  a  position  to  see  more  of  him 
than  I  could,  and  to  observe  more  closely  his  powers  of 
administration,  and  his  admirable  qualities  as  a  Christian 
Bishop.  His  health  and  spirits  were  then  unbroken. 
The  partner  of  his  joys  and  sorrows, — the  soother  of  his 
cares, — the  light  of  his  house,  was  yet  with  him ;  and  I 
have  often  heard  you  speak  of  the  pleasure  and  satisfac- 
tion you  had  in  transacting  business  with  him  in  those 
days. 

To  me,  in  later  years,  was  reserved  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  his  praises  as  my  visitations  led  me  to  place  after 
place,  to  Parish  after  Parish,  to  family  after  family  where 
he  had  been  before  me ! — And  a  great  pleasure  it  was, — 
the  feeling  of  Clergy  and  people  toward  him  was  so  warm 
and  abiding.  Sure  I  am  that  our  Standing  Committee, 
and  our  next  Diocesan  Convention  will  express  in  no 
feeble  or  doubtful  terms  the  veneration  and  affection 
which  he  awakened  in  all  our  hearts. 

May  GOD  in  His  great  mercy  be  gracious  to  his  family 
and  to  the  bereaved  diocese,  and  by  His  Holy  Spirit 


28 

guide  the  mourning  flock  to  the  things  that  are  wise 
and  right  for  the  future. 

Affectionately  yours, 

HORATIO  POTTER. 
To  THE  REV.  DR.  HAIGHT. 


It  remains  for  me  to  say  but  very  few  addi- 
tional words.  Bishop  Chase  was  a  man  of  no 
common  intellectual  endowments,  and  these  had 
been  ripened  by  severe  study  and  close  application. 
His  scholarship  was  varied  and  accurate.  He 
prosecuted  the  study  of  Theology  with  deep  inter- 
est, and  became  a  sound  and  admirable  Divine. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  upright  of  men,  thor- 
oughly honest  and  truthful  in  all  his  words  and 
deeds.  He  was  a  wise  man,  very  rarely  making 
a  mistake  as  to  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued, 
whether  in  domestic,  civil  or  religious  matters. 
He  was  a  kind  man,  not  ostentatiously  so,  but 
unobtrusively  kind,  in  thought,  and  word,  and 
deed  to  all  men.  He  was  a  Christian  man;  a 
meek,  gentle.,  faithful  follower  of  the  blessed  Jesus, 
believing  in  Him,  trusting  in  Him  with  his  whole 
heart ;  living  to  honor,  and  serve,  and  obey,  and 
follow  that  adorable  Redeemer.  And  he  was  a 
Churchman,  true  and  loyal  to  the  Communion  of 
which  he  was  an  honored  servant;  prizing  her  holy 
ways  beyond  his  highest  joy,  arid  ever  praying 
and  striving  for  the  increase  of  her  peace  and 
prosperity.  And  yet  while  holding  his  own 
principles  firmly  and  decidedly,  he  failed  not  to 
see  and  respect  and  love  the  good  qualities  of 
those  from  whom  he  was  constrained  to  differ. 
His  charity  was  of  the  widest  kind,  embracing 
within  its  range  all  who  loved  the  Lord  Jesus 


29 


Christ  in   sincerity,  and  who  followed  Him  in 
humility  and  truth. 

Such  was  the  beloved  Father  in  God,  whose 
mortal  remains  are  now  to  he  consigned  to  the 
tomb,  with  our  tears  and  prayers,  and  yet  in  the 
sure  and  certain  hope  of  his  glorious  resurrection 
at  the  last  day,  to  receive  the  reward  of  a  good 
and  faithful  servant. 


On  account  of  the  storm,  which  raged  with  vio- 
lence, the  remainder  of  the  service  was  said  in  the 
Church  by  Bishops  Williams  and  Bissell,  Bishop 
Williams  pronouncing  the  committal. 

The  Bishops  and  Clergy  then  repaired  to  the 
door  of  the  Church,  and  through  their  lines  was 
borne  all  that  was  mortal  of  him  whom  they  had 
loved  and  revered.  The  people  saw,  with  moist- 
ened eyes,  the  form  of  their  chief-shepherd  carried 
forth  from  the  portals  which  he  had  so  often 
entered  to  minister  to  them  in  the  things  of  GOD. 

Silently,  amid  the  rain,  his  mourning  family, 
the  Clergy,  friends,  and  Masonic  brethren  carried 
him  to  the  place  appointed  for  all  living,  and  laid 
him  in  the  earth,  whence,  by  the  all-conquering 
power  of  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  he  shall, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  be  raised,  and  his  corrupti- 
ble body  made  like  unto  Christ's  own  glorious 
body. 


II. 


THE  life  of  a  man  whose  official  course  covers 
more  than  half  a  century,  in  the  formative  period 
of  this  Church  and  Nation,  can  not  but  be  of 
value  and  interest  to  the  world.  Such  was  the 
period  and  extent  of  the  life  of  Bishop  Chase, 
The  history  of  his  official  career  is  a  portion  of 
the  history  of  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
American  Church  from  the  feebleness  of  infancy 
to  the  well-compacted  strength  of  an  institution 
which  now  commands  universal  respect — from  a 
condition  of  apologetic  weakness  among  the 
religious  societies  of  this  land  to  one  of  solidity 
and  power.  The  compilers  of  this  sketch  feel, 
therefore,  that  they  need  offer  no  apology  for 
having  entered  upon  the  work  which  they  here 
propose  to  themselves. 

Carlton  Chase  was  born  at  Hopkinton,  !N".  H., 
on  Dimond's  Hill,  so  called,  on  the  road  to  Con- 
cord, and  about  five  miles  from  that  place. 

The  Chases  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  the 
region  where  they  lived.  Thomas  and  Aquila 
Chase,  known  to  be  brothers,  and  William  Chase, 
whose  kinship  is  uncertain,  are  supposed  to  be 
the  progenitors  of  all  now  bearing  their  name  in 
this  country.  These  came  from  England  with 


SI 


some  of  the  earliest  bands  of  emigrants.  Wil- 
liam died  in  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  in  the  year  1659. 
Thomas  and  Aquila,  from  the  latter  of  whom  the 
subject  of  our  sketch  was  descended,  came  to 
Hampton,  N".  H.  in  1639.  From  Aquila,  also,  was 
descended  the  late  Bishop  Philander  Chase ;  he 
being  the  fourth  from  Moses  the  youngest,  while 
Carlton  Chase  was  the  fourth  from  Daniel  the 
fourth  son  of  Aquila. 

Carlton  Chase's  great-grandfather  moved  to 
Concord,  N".  H.,  when  his  family  was  nearly  grown, 
and  bought  a  farm — his  house  standing  on  or  near 
the  present  site  of  Abbott  &  Downing's  carriage 
shop.  Jonathan,  the  second  son,  moved,  about  a 
year  after  his  marriage  with  Sarah  Stickney,  to 
Hopkinton,  where,  on  Dimond's  Hill,  he  built  a 
small  house,  in  which  all  his  sons  were  born. 
Charles  Chase,  son  of  Jonathan,  lived  on  a  farm 
comprising  a  large  portion  of  the  homestead, 
where  he  married  Sarah  Currier.  Carlton,  their 
oldest  son,  was  born  February  20,  1794.  Shortly 
afterward,  the  house  in  which  the  family  resided 
was  sold  to  the  town  for  a  Poof  House,  they  re- 
moving to  another  portion  of  the  same  farm.  Re- 
ferring to  Charles  Chase's  birth-place  being  after- 
ward turned  into  a  pig-pen  and  his  own  into  a 
poor-house,  the  Bishop  used  playfully  to  say  that 
while  his  father  was  born  in  a  pig-pen,  his  own 
birth  took  place  in  a  poor-house. 

Sarah  Currier  was  from  a  strong  Baptist  family, 


32 


consequently  the  Bishop's  early  influences  and 
associations  were  connected  with  that  denomina- 
tion. Late  in  life  his  father  joined  himself  to  the 
Episcopal  Church  at  Hopkinton. 

Carlton  was  of  an  exceedingly  feeble  constitution 
— one  of  those  children  of  whom  the  good  moth- 
ers are  wont  to  say — "  it  was  a  miracle  that  he  was 
raised."  "While  an  infant  he  had  a  very  severe 
attack  of  scarlet  fever,  from  which  it  was  only  by 
the  best  of  loving  care  that  he  recovered.  He 
remained  for  years  afterwards  puny  and  unable 
to  endure  hard  work.  The  labors  of  the  farm 
were  distasteful,  being  of  too  severe  a  nature  for 
his  physical  system.  He  had  little  taste  for  the 
ordinary  rough  sports  of  the  hearty  farmers'  boys 
of  his  own  age,  and  seldom  mingled  in  them, 
enjoying,  however,  an  occasional  frolic  with  his 
brother  and  sister. 

He  had  no  early  advantages  for  study  but  those 
afforded  by  the  district  school.  This  he  attended 
regularly  till  eleven  years  of  age,  and  after  that 
during  winters,  until  he  was  fifteen.  In  the  month 
of  February,  1808  he  went  to  live  with  his  uncle, 
Dr.  Stephen  Currier,  at  Hopkinton  village,  where 
he  attended  a  private  school  kept  by  Amos  Allen, 
who  afterwards  practiced  law  in  Newton,  Mass. 
In  the  winter  following,  at  Mr.  Allen's  sugges- 
tion, he  took  a  small  district  school.  In  the 
spring  he  returned  to  his  father's  house  for  the 
summer's  work  on  the  farm. 


33 


Now  occurred  an  event  which  proved  the  turn- 
ing point  in  his  life  and  one  which  seemed  to 
be  a  direct  interposition  of  divine  Providence. 
Of  this  remarkable  circumstance  he  wrote — "  I 
returned  in  the  spring  to  my  father's  house,  with- 
out the  least  idea  of  ever  following  any  other 
pursuit  than  that  of  farming.  One  pleasant  day, 
in  the  month  of  May,  as  we  were  planting  corn  in 
the  field,  I  observed  John  O.  Ballard,  Esq.,  of 
Hopkinton,  (Goo  bless  him),  enter  the  field  and 
hold  a  long  conversation  with  my  father.  That 
conversation  decided  the  course  of  my  life.  In 
consequence  of  it  I  undertook,  in  a  few  days,  to 
instruct  a  small  family  school  for  Mr.  Ballard  and 
his  friend,  the  Hon.  John  Harris;  while  it  was 
arranged  that  during  spare  time  I  should  attend 
to  the  study  of  Latin,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Harris,  who  was  an  excellent  scholar  in  that  lan- 
guage. The  winter  following,  I  took  charge  of 
a  common  district  school,  in  which  I  continued 
several  months,  and  returned  in  the  spring  to 
pursue  my  studies  with  Mr.  Harris,  with  whom  I 
continued  till  the  school-keeping  season  of  the 
next  winter.  To  the  gentlemen  above  named,  I 
owe  all  that  I  know  or  am.  By  their  habitual 
care  for  correctness  in  first  principles,  and  their 
patient  attention  to  elementary  accuracy  in  every 
thing,  they  were  the  means  of  throwing  my  mind 
into  a  position  which  it  has  never  lost  nor  left. 
And  I  often  think  how  fortunate  it  was  for  me  to 


34 


have  commenced  my  education  under  the  eye  and 
influence  of  such  men." 

In  school-keeping,  Carlton  Chase  was  remarkably 
successful,  though  so  young.  He  was  an  excellent 
penman,  and  retained  the  same  habit  and  style, 
almost  precisely,  to  the  last.  Some  of  the  latest 
entries  in  his  record  are  in  the  same  carefully 
executed,  plain  and  distinct  chirography  which 
appeared  in  his  earliest  manuscripts.  His  second 
term  was  taught  in  Concord  "  street,"  where  an 
unruly  school  was  put  into  his  charge.  His  father 
tried  to  dissuade  him  from  attempting  so  difficult 
a  task,  while  yet  comparatively  without  experience. 
He  nevertheless  took  the  school  and  commenced 
proceedings  by  appearing  in  the  room  on  the  open- 
ing day  while  the  young  fellows,  heroes  of  many 
a  rebellion,  were  clustered  about  the  stove,  waiting 
to  see  who  was  to  be  master  there,  he  or  they. 
Young  Chase  was  then  quite  tall,  but  slender,  with 
dark  hair  and  firmly  set  features.  When  he  fast- 
ened the  door  and  ordered  all  to  their  seats,  the 
boys  discovered  that  the  days  of  their  rule  were 
over.  Mr.  Chase  quietly  laid  down  the  laws 
which  were  to  govern  the  school  during  that  term, 
and  it  is  needless  to  add — there  was  no  disturbance 
during  that  winter. 

Mr.  Chase  completed  his  preparation  for  college, 
at  Salisbury  Academy,  in  the  summer  of  1813, 
and  in  September  following  entered  Dartmouth 
College.  The  class  commencing  that  year  num- 


35 


bered  sixty,  most  of  them  younger  than  Mr.  Chase. 
Of  him,  at  that  time,  Hon.  Amasa  Edes,  of  New- 
port, N".  H.,  writes — "His  personal  appearance 
then  was  good;  tall,  straight,  rather  spare  and 
slender,  but  of  good  form,  with  countenance  much 
as  in  later  life,  except  being  expressive  of  more 
spirit  and  vivacity." 

Rev.  Horace  Fletcher,  of  Townshend,Vt,  speaks 
of  him  as  follows — "My  recollections  of  your 
father  when  in  college  are  very  distinct  and  vivid. 
There  is  no  one  of  our  large  class  whose  personal 
appearance  I  can  more  readily  and  distinctly  recall. 
Although  fifty  years,  and  more,  have  fled  away 
since  we  trod  the  Halls  of  College  together,  and 
went  the  rounds  of  college  studies  and  exercises 
in  company,  yet  I  can  recollect  with  strange  dis- 
tinctness his  appearance  in  the  class.  I  seem  to 
see  him  standing  near  the  head  of  the  class,  as  we 
were  placed  alphabetically,  tall  and  pale  with 
study,  reciting  coolly  and  with  great  self-posses- 
sion and  accuracy,  the  lesson  of  the  morning.  I 
have  no  recollection  that  he  ever  came  to  recitation 
without  thorough  preparation.  My  impression  is 
that  mathematical  and  philosophical  studies  were 
his  favorites,  though  he  was  by  no  means  deficient 
as  a  linguist. 

His  demeanor  through  his  college  life  was 
characterized,  as  it  now  seems  to  me,  by  a  certain 
gravity  and  dignity  of  carriage.  I  have  no  re- 
membrance of  ever  seeing  him  engaged  in  the 


36 


sports  in  which  the  students  sought  relaxation. 
I  have  often  seen  him  sitting  on  the  steps  of  the 
college  building  while  some  twenty  or  thirty  of 
the  students  eagerly  engaged  in  the  game  of  foot- 
ball, on  the  common  before  him.  He  seemed  to 
look  on  with  interest  and  be  amused,  but  I  cannot 
recollect  his  engaging  in  the  sport.  This  gravity, 
and  keeping  aloof  from  the  sports  of  the  students, 
may  be  attributable,  in  some  measure,  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  the  senior  in  age  of  a  majority  of  the 
class." 

The  quietness  of  his  bearing,  thus  described 
by  Mr.  Fletcher,  probably  arose  also  in  some 
degree  from  the  feebleness  of  his  physical  frame, 
discouraging  him  from  engaging  in  the  rough-and- 
tumble  contests  of  the  more  hardy  and  robust. 

Mr.  Edes  thinks  "  his  standing,  as  a  scholar  in 
his  class,  was  by  some  considered  as  first,  by  others 
as  second.  Opinions  were  divided  between  him 
and  the  late  President  James  Marsh  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont."  In  speaking  of  those  times, 
the  Bishop  used  to  say  that  "  he  considered  Marsh 
the  first,  while  Marsh  insisted  that  he  had  a  better 
right  to  that  position."  Mr.  Marsh  was  appointed 
valedictorian,  Mr.  Chase  having  the  next  appoint- 
ment— the  philosophical  oration. 

"  During  the  months  of  July  and  August,  1815," 
writes  the  Rev.  Jacob  Scales,  of  Plainfield  1ST.  H., 
"  a  terrible  typhus  fever  prevailed  among  the  stu- 
dents, of  whom  many  were  sick  and  some  died. 


37 


Chase,  rooming  with  a  kinsman  of  a  lower  class, 
in  a  private  house,  near  the  Medical  College,  was 
very  sick,  and,  for  four  weeks,  did  not  stand  alone 
on  his  feet.  His  room-mate  and  I  took  care  of 
him,  providing  watchers,  &c.  I  wrote  his  father, 
at  Hopkinton,  who  mounted  his  horse  and  came 
directly  to  Hanover.  It  being  haying  season  he 
could  stay  but  one  day.  He  handed  me  some 
bank-bills,  seeing  which,  Carlton  raised  his  head, 
saying  to  me  *  you  take  care  of  that — Pierce  feels 
so  bad  because  he  has  no  money.'  Pierce  was  a 
fellow-student  who  died  the  next  day." 

The  end  of  the  term  having  come,  Mr.  Scales 
and  Mr.  Chase's  room-mate  borrowed  a  wagon,  in 
the  bottom  of  which  they  placed  a  straw  bed,  and 
on  the  bed  the  weak  and  sickly  student.  They 
drew  him  to  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Chapman,  in 
whose  care  they  left  him.  The  room-mate  went 
home,  was  taken  down  with  the  fever  and  died. 
How  long  a  time  elapsed  before  Mr.  Chase  was 
sufficiently  recovered  to  return  to  Hopkinton  is 
not  recorded ;  but  from  a  minute  account  of  col- 
lege expenses,  which  he  kept,  it  appears  that  on 
September  27th  he  paid  Mrs.  Chapman  for  his 
board  during  his  sickness.  The  entries  for  medi- 
cine, &c.,  would  indicate  that  this  illness  lasted 
from  about  the  twenty-third  of  August  to  the 
above  date. 

While  he  was  at  home  spending  the  summer 
vacation  of  1814,  a  report  reached  Hopkiuton  that 


British  vessels  had  appeared  off  Portsmouth  har- 
bor, meditating  an  attack.  This  roused  the  pat- 
riotism of  all  the  farmers'  sons,  who,  Mr.  Chase 
among  them,  volunteered  at  once  for  the  defence. 
Their  company  marched  to  Portsmouth,  spent  a 
few  days  in  moulding  bullets,  and  then  returned 
home,  the  enemy  having  disappeared. 

Mr.  Chase  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society  in  the  summer  of  1816. 

In  relation  to  his  first  religious  impressions,  his 
being  drawn  to  the  Episcopal  Church  and  his 
choice  of  a  profession  we  find  the  substance  of  the 
following  in  his  own  handwriting.  He  says  that 
until  the  latter  part  of  his  college  course  it  was  the 
expectation  of  both  himself  and  friends  that  he 
would  follow  the  profession  of  the  law.  The  spring 
of  1815  was  distinguished  at  Dartmouth  College  by 
a  remarkable  religious  revival.  This  gave  an  im- 
petus to  the  pious  influences  which,  surrounding 
him  from  infancy,  now  produced  their  effect  by 
inducing  in  Mr.  Chase  a  new  and  fuller  apprecia- 
*  tion  of  his  duty  to  GOD,  and  by  inspiring  him  with 
a  resolution  immediately  to  fulfil  it.  He  did  not, 
at  this  time,  for  good  reasons,  join  himself  to  any 
religious  organization.  He  says,  "  In  the  winter 
of  1816 — 17,  I  was  engaged  in  a  school  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Hopkinton,  where  was,  and  still  is,  an  Epis- 
copal Church.  My  attention  was  attracted  by  its 
solemn  forms  and  regular  ministrations,  and  by  the 
faithful  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  R.  Andrus, 


39 


the  officiating  minister.  I  had  now  found  a 
Church  which  answered  my  idea  of  what  a  Chris- 
tian Church  ought  to  be.  I  dismissed  the  inten- 
tion of  studying  law,  and  determined  to  devote 
myself  to  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church." 

With  characteristic  determination,  on  the  four- 
teenth of  May  following,  he  mounted  a  horse  and 
rode  from  Hanover  to  Hopkinton, about  fifty  miles, 
where  he  received  Baptism  at  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Andrus*  This  clergyman  afterwards  devoted  him- 
self to  the  Christianization  of  Africa,  where  he 
died  among  the  first  of  those  who  served  under 
the  Colonization  Society. 

At  Commencement,  in  July,  1817,  he  received 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  departed  from 
his  Alma  Mater,  leaving  the  reputation  of  a  thor- 
ough student  and  a  man  who,  if  somewhat  austere 
in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellows,  was  yet  "  a 
perfect  gentleman."  If  they  feared,  "  they  cer- 
tainly loved  him,  regarding  him  as  scrupulously 
conscientious."  "  Distinguished  in  College  for 
his  scholarship  and  dignified  bearing,  and  for  his 
honorable  course  throughout,  he  occupied  a  proud 
position  in  the  estimation  of  the  Class  and  of  the 
Faculty." 

It  was  early  in  the  winter  of  1816—17,  that  Mr. 
Chase  determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and, 
accordingly,  made  immediate  application  for  ad- 
mission as  a  candidate  for  orders  in  the  Eastern 


40 

Diocese.  The  request  was  granted  in  January 
1817,  as  appears  in  a  letter  from  Bishop  Griswold 
dated  "Bristol,  January  30th.  1817,"  and  running 
as  follows : — 

DEAR  SIR: — Tt  gave  me  no  small  pleasure  to 
learn  from  Mr.  Andrus  and  yourself,  your  wish  to 
devote  yourself  to  GOD,  in  the  work  of  the  sacred 
ministry.  Though  we  are  yet  strangers,  from  the 
testimonials  forwarded  and  your  own  declaration, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  your  motives  are  truly 
Christian  and  that  the  LORD  will  make  you  a 
useful  Minister  of  His  word.  Your  determination 
to  labour  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  is 
not,  I  trust,  without  the  Divine  Counsel.  There  is 
a  very  great  call  for  able  and  pious  ministers 
among  us,  and  to  the  present  state  of  our  Church 
may  be  applied  the  words  of  our  Divine  Master  ; 
"The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers 
are  few."  I  presented  your  testimonials  to  our 
Standing  Committee,  and,  on  their  recommenda- 
tion, have  enrolled  your  name  as  a  candidate  for 
Holy  Orders.  That  the  LORD  may  direct  and  bless 
your  studies,  and  fit  and  prepare  you  for  that 
important  work,  is  the  humble  and  earnest  prayer 
of  your  affectionate  friend, 

ALEXANDER  Y.  GRISWOLD." 

Very  shortly  after  his  graduation,  Mr.  Chase 
proceeded  to  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  where,  as  was 
the  custom  in  those  days,  he  pursued  the  study  of 
Theology,  in  company  with  two  or  three  other 
students,  under  the  direction  of  the  venerable 
Bishop.  His  life  there  was  an  exceedingly  pleas- 
ant one.  The  town  was  old,  and  the  society  of  the 


41 


best.  As  might  be  expected,  the  company  and 
conversation  of  an  intelligent  young  man  were 
by  no  means  despised.  Accordingly  Mr.  Chase 
passed  through  the  ordinary  experiences  of  young 
men,  whether  they  be  clerical  or  lay.  To  the  end 
of  his  life,  Bishop  Chase  spoke  often  and  kindly 
of  the  good  ladies  of  Bristol,  remembering  them 
always  with  the  greatest  interest. 

In  consideration  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
his  term  of  study  was  shortened  so  that,  on  the  9th 
of  December,  1818,  he  was  ordained  Deacon,  by 
his  venerable  preceptor,  in  St.  Michael's  Church, 
Bristol. 

The  first  winter  he  spent,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Eev.  Thomas  Carlisle,  of  Salem  Mass.,  in  car- 
rying out  plans  for  raising  up  a  Church  in  Lynn. 
At  the  end  of  four  or  five  months'  service,  matters 
had  not  prospered  sufficiently  to  warrant  a  perma- 
nent engagement.  A  letter  from  the  projectors 
of  the  parish  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  Mr. 
Chase's  faithful  labors,  but  regrets  that  they  were 
not  in  position  to  offer  a  salary. 

About  the  first  of  May,  1819,  at  the  recommen- 
dation and  by  the  advice  of  Bishop  Griswold,  Mr. 
Chase  left  Salem  and  went  to  Springfield,  Mass., 
where,  it  seems,  the  Church  was  scarcely  more  ad- 
vanced than  in  Lynn — the  services  being  held  in 
the  Armory  Chapel  and  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Commandant.  This  arrangement  lasted  but  three 
months,  terminating  the  last  of  July. 


42 

On  the  26th  of  September,  Mr.  Chase  entered 
into  an  engagement  with  Immanuel  Church,  Bel- 
lows Falls,  Vt.,  and  St,  Peter's,  Drewsville,  N.  HM 
by  which  he  was  to  officiate  two  thirds  of  the  time 
for  the  former  and  one  third  for  the  latter  parish. 

The  Church  at  Bellows  Falls  was  founded,  in 
the  year  1789,  by  Samuel  Cutler,  a  physician^  who 
came,  in  that  year,  to  Buckingham,  from  Hart* 
ford,  Connecticut  He  was  a  staunch  Episcopa- 
lian^  and  immediately  organized  a  parish,  having 
services  at  the  "  Old  Town,"  as  it  was  called. 
Through  his  exertions  the  glebe  lands  in  Rocking- 
ham  were  taken  up,  rented,  and  the  proceeds  ap- 
plied towards  paying  for  the  services  of  a  clergy- 
man. Dr.  Cutler  read  the  Church  service  on  Sun- 
days, obtaining,  as  means  allowed,  occasional  visits 
from  neighboring  clergy.  Reverend  Virgil  Bar- 
ber, of  Claremont,  afterwards  a  pervert  to  Rome, 
was  one  of  those  most  frequently  called  upon. 
Thus  the  services  of  the  Church  were  kept  up,  the 
people  baptised)  the  dead  buriedj  and  the  Holy 
Communion  occasionally  administered,  while,  once 
in  a  year  or  two,  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  were 
gladdened  by  the  visit  of  their  chief  pastor,  the 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese* 

About  the  year  1816  a  Church  building  was 
erected  at  Bellows  Falls,  whither  Dr.  Cutler  had 
removed,  and  where  several  other  warm-heart- 
ed Church  people  had  settled.  The  Reverend 
George  T»  Chapman,  now  living,  at  a  venerable 


43 


old  age,  in  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  was  the 
rector,  and  the  only  one,  who  preceded  Mr.  Chase. 
He,  in  the  year  1818,  reported  eleven  commu- 
nicants as  belonging  to  Immanuel  Church. 

Mr.  Chase,  on  arriving  at  Bellows  Falls,  went 
to  board  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Cutler  who  resided 
in  a  large,  low  house  situated  where  the  Island 
House  now  stands.  In  this  sound,  true-hearted 
household  he  found  Harriet  Cutler,  the  woman 
who,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1820,  became  his 
wife.  They  were  married  in  Windsor  at  the  house 
of  Miss  Cutler's  brother-in-law,  E.  R.  Campbell, 
by  the  Rev.  George  Leonard,  rector  of  the  Church 
in  that  place.  They  proceeded  directly  to  Bristol, 
where,  on  the  27th,  Mr.  Chase  was  admitted  to 
Priest's  Orders  by  Bishop  Griswold.  Having  re- 
turned home,  they  boarded  with  Dr.  Cutler  until 
his  death,  Oct.  30th,  1821,  after  which  they  kept 
house  in  the  same  dwelling,  till  the  year  1830, 
when,  having  erected  a  house  of  his  own,  on  the 
hill,  near  the  Church,  he  made  that  his  residence 
till  his  removal  to  Claremont,  in  April,  1844. 

About  the  year  1819,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  order  of  Free-Masons,  and,  June  3,  1820,  he 
took  three  of  the  Chapter  degrees  at  Trinity  Chap- 
ter then  located  at  Hopkinton,  N".  H.,  being  exalt- 
ed to  the  degree  of  Royal  Arch  Mason  at  the  same 
place  Sept.  2,  1826.  He  ever  held  the  Order  and 
its  tenets  in  high  esteem,  delivering  Masonic 
addresses  on  several  occasions. 


44 

After  fifteen  months,  St.  Peter's  Church,  not 
having  obtained  certain  expected  allowances,  from 
Church  Lands,  gave  up  its  share  of  ministerial 
service.  In  Oct.  1821,  Immanuel  Church  made 
provision  for  the  entire  support  of  their  clergyman, 
at  a  yearly  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars.  In  his 
record,  Mr.  Chase  wrote — "  At  the  beginning  of  my 
residence  here,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars 
was  proposed  by  the  vestry  as  my  salary.  This 
sum,  from  that  time  to  this,  neither  the  parish  has 
proposed  to  lessen  nor  I  to  increase.  Though 
small,  the  kind  providence  of  GOD,  has  enabled 
me  to  live  within  it,  and  indeed,  to  relinquish  very 
large  arrearages  at  different  .times.  My  receipts 
have  not  averaged  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
per  year.  To  be  economical  without  meanness, 
and  liberal  without  profusion  or  extravagance  is  a 
lesson  which  every  minister  of  the  gospel  ought 
diligently  to  study." 

Mr.  Chase  found  Bellows  Falls  a  pleasant  little 
village  with  wild  natural  scenery  both  of  mountain 
and  river,  and,  what  was  more  to  his  purpose,  settled 
mostly  by  families  of  refinement  and  culture.  The 
canal,  constructed  around  the  falls  in  the  Connecti- 
cut, was  owned  by  an  English  family  by  the  name 
of  Atkinson ;  several  members  of  which,  in  their 
various  connections,  resided  in  the  neighborhood. 
Moreover,  these  people  were  Churchmen.  They 
were  born  and  bred  in  the  Church  and  trained  up 
their  families  to  walk  in  the  same  "  old  paths." 


45 


Of  course  such  society  attracted  new  comers  of 
like  principles  and  tastes;  wherefore,  during  the 
entire  fifty  years,  which  have  now  elapsed,  since 
the  Reverend  Carlton  Chase  commenced  his  minis- 
trations in  ImmanUel  Church,  a  solid  influence, 
always  perceptible  and  active,  in  the  midst  of  the 
amenities  of  refined  social  life,  has  existed  there, 
in  favor  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  At  his  first 
undertaking  the  rectorship,  the  village  being  new, 
with  its  population  still  unsettled,  this  sentiment 
had  hardly  taken  shape.  But  with  a  learned, 
enterprising  and  industrious  pastor,  fresh  from 
contact  with  some  of  the  best  and  brightest  men 
and  women  of  the  time,  acting  upon  and  with  such 
material,  there  could  not  fail  to  result  just  such  a 
united  and  harmonious  Christian  community  as  it 
was  this  clergyman's  happy  lot  to  minister  unto 
during  twenty-five  of  the  best  years  of  his  life. 

Although  the  Church  edifice  was  already  con- 
structed when  the  new  rector  took  possession,  it 
was  hardly  completed,  and  was  burdened  with  a 
debt,  which,  in  those  times  of  scant  currency,  was 
heavy  indeed.  This  incumbrance  was  paid  off  by 
contributions  of  parishioners,  aided  by  a  legacy 
from  a  friend  in  New  York,  whose  munificence 
was  commemorated  on  a  marble  slab  placed  upon 
the  front  of  the  altar. 

Mr.  Chase  found  on  the  records  of  the  parish 
the  names  of  eleven  communicants;  these  in- 
creased, with  remarkable  steadiness  and  regularity, 


46 


notwithstanding  cbnstant  losses  by  removals,  to 
one  hundred  and  forty-six,  as  reported  to  the  Con- 
vention in  1843.  In  1826  the  Church  was  im- 
proved and  furnished  with  an  organ.  In  1833  an 
important  enlargement  was  effected.  A  Sunday 
School  library  was  gathered;  while  a  parish 
library,  commenced  in  1828,  reached,  during  this 
rectorship,  above  five  hundred  volumes.  In  1839 
a  lecture  room  was  built,  and  in  1842  the  Church 
was  again  repaired  and  painted.  In  contributions 
for  missionary  work,  and  other  benevolent  enter- 
prises, this  parish  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  reliable  in  the  Diocese.  All  this  was  owing 
to  the  quiet,  systematic  and  judicious  labors  of 
the  pastor,  seconded  by  a  people  among  whom  it 
was  a  constantly  increasing  pleasure  to  live  and 
work. 

It  is  related  that  at  one  time  during  this  period 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Burchard,  a  leading  revival 
preacher  among  the  Baptists,  was  holding  a  series 
of  meetings  in  a  neighboring  town.  One  evening, 
according  to  custom,  he  invited  the  members  of 
his  congregation  to  suggest  subjects  for  prayer. 
Among  several  who  responded  was  one  man  who 
called  for  prayers  for  Bellows  Falls.  No  notice  was 
taken  of  this  for  some  time :  and  the  man  loudly 
repeated  his  request,  till  Mr.  Burchard  was  obliged 
to  attend.  Stretching  his  long  arm  out  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  voice  proceeded,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Our  brother  need  not  trouble  himself  at 


47 


all  about  Bellows  Falls — the  LORD  will  take  care 
of  Bellows  Falls." 

From  the  beginning  of  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Chase 
at  Bellows  Falls,  till  the  year  1832,  Vermont  was 
included  in  what  was  termed  the  Eastern  Diocese, 
presided  over  by  Bishop  A.  V.  Griswold,  whose 
memory  will  ever  be  affectionately  preserved  among 
Churchmen.  Bishop  Griswold  was  an  able  admin- 
istrator, and  possessed  the  faculty  of  keeping  in 
mind  and  providing  for  every  portion  of  his  exten- 
sive jurisdiction.  This  comprised  the  united  dio- 
ceses of  Massachusetts,  (which  included  Maine,) 
New-Hampshire,  Vermont  and  Rhode-Island.  He 
seemed  to  regard  with  equal  care  and  solicitude 
the  few  Churchmen  in  the  obscure  villages  of  New- 
Hampshire — as  it  were  cast  away  on  an  island 
amid  the  sea  of  Puritanism — and  the  wealthy  and 
conspicuous  parishes  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode- 
Island;  and  as  often  as  circumstances  permitted, 
he  visited  them  personally  at  their  churches  and 
homes. 

The  difficulties  attending  a  visitation,  over  this 
part  of  New-England,  in  those  days,  can  hardly  be 
appreciated  now;  an  expedition  from  Bristol 
through  the  Northern  portions  of  his  diocese  being 
more  of  an  undertaking  than  would  now  be  a 
trip  to  Portland,  Oregon.  We  find  an  interesting 
letter  written  by  the  Bishop  to  his  late  pupil, 
probably  while  the  latter  was  at  his  father's  house, 
between  the  time  of  his  leaving  Springfield  and 


48 


commencing  service  at  Bellows  Falls,  in  which  he 
lays  out  the  plan  for  a  visitation  in  New-Hamp- 
shire. 

"  August  23d,  (BRISTOL)  1819. 
REVEREND  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  have  received  your  favour  of  the  16th,  and 
thank  you  for  the  information  it  gives.  As  I  hope 
soon  to  see  you,  it  will  suffice,  at  present,  to  make 
you  acquainted  with  the  arrangements  of  my  in- 
tended journey,  as  respects  the  parishes  in  your 
vicinity.  My  intention  is,  the  Lord  permitting,  to 
go  in  the  stage  from  Boston  to  Concord,  Monday, 
the  6th,  of  September  next.  Tuesday,  the  7th,  ( if 
requested)  will  officiate  in  Concord.  Wednesday, 
the  8th,  go  to  Plymouth,  the  9th,  officiate  at  Hold- 
erness,  the  10th,  return  to  Concord,  the  llth,  shall 
be  able  to  officiate  in  Hopkinton,  or  other  place,  as 
shall  be  thought  expedient.  Sunday,  ye  12th,  may 
be  at  Hopkinton  except  it  shall  be  thought  better 
that  I  should  be  at  Bradford.  Monday,  I  intend 
going  to  Bradford  when  ( if  not  before)  services 
may  "be  held  there.  Tuesday,  the  13th,  I  would 
go  to  Claremont.  I  have  delayed  giving  this  in- 
formation longer  than  was  intended  by  waiting  for 
some  necessary  information  from  Boston.  If  you 
shall  not  be  otherwise  engaged  I  shall  be  glad  of 
your  company  to  Holderness.  Perhaps  you  will 
also  find  it  convenient  to  go  with  me  to  Claremont 
and  over  to  Bellows  Falls.  I  have  no  conveyance 
provided  after  reaching  Concord.  You  will  oblige 
me  by  giving  attention  to  that  business.  If  some 
of  our  kind  friends  there  will  let  us  a  horse  with  a 
chaise  or  small  wagon,  I  will  gladly  pay  for  the 
use  of  them.  I  wish  also  that  you  will  give  all 


49 


the  information  respecting  the  above  arrangement 
which  shall  be  useful  and  in  your  power. 

Your  friends,  here  in  Bristol,  are  generally  well 
— and  I  remain  most  affectionately  your  friend 
and  brother, 

ALEXANDER  V.  GRISWOLD." 

Under  date  of  Boston,  April  9,  1842,  we  find 
another  letter,  in  which  a  visit  to  the  Western 
portion  of  New-Hampshire  is  planned.  After  this 
is  one  dated  at  Claremont,  May  16, 1842>  in  which 
the  Bishop  mentions  being  attacked,  at  that  place, 
with  an  illness,  which  necessitated  a  return  to 
Boston,  leaving  his  intended  work  unfinished. 
His  venerable  form  was  never  seen  among  those 
people  again. 

We  introduce  these  matters  without  apology, 
for  they  belong  to  the  history  of  a  period  full  of 
interest  to  the  Church,  the  sources  of  which  are 
fast  passing  away. 

From  his  first  appearance  at  the  Diocesan  Con- 
vention of  Vermont,  to  his  election  to  the  Episco- 
pate of  New-Hampshire,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Chase 
bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  councils  of  the 
Church.  He  was  made  a  member  of  the  Standing 
Committee  in  1820,  and  continued  as  such,  by  an- 
nual election,  one  year  excepted,  when  he  intended 
a  visit  to  Europe,  till  he  left  the  diocese ;  and  was 
president  of  that  body  from  the  year  1834.  He 
attended  every  annual  Convention  of  the  Diocese 
during  his  residence  therein,  excepting  the  year 


50 


1824,  when  sickness  prevented.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  several  committees  appointed  at  differ- 
ent times  for  the  revision  and  improvement  of  the 
Constitution  and  Canons  of  the  Diocese. 

At  the  early  settlement  of  the  country  certain 
lands  were  reserved  in  each  township,  by  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
Church.  These  were  glebe  lands  and  propagation 
rights,  which  from  lack  of  care,  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  of  the  Church,  were  now  mostly  occu- 
pied and  held  by  individuals,  or  in  some  cases,  by 
the  towns  in  which  they  were  situated.  Thus 
they  were  apparently  lost  to  the  sacred  uses  for 
which  they  were  originally  set  apart.  In  1831, 
Mr.  Chase  was  appointed,  by  the  Propagation 
Society  in  England,  one  of  its  agents,  to  recover 
and  protect  its  rights  in  these  lands.  Accordingly, 
he,  with  the  Hon.  Jonathan  H.  Hubbard,  of  Wind- 
sor, and  others,  commenced  a  course  of  litigation 
for  this  purpose.  The  distinguished  Daniel  Web- 
ster being  engaged  as  counsel,  Mr.  Chase  and  his 
associates  were  entirely  successful,  and  thereby 
secured  to  the  Church  a  property  which  yielded  a 
yearly  income  of  over  three  thousand  dollars — a 
very  important  help  in  carrying  on  the  missionary 
enterprises  of  the  diocese. 

In  the  course  of  one  of  his  journeys,  while 
engaged  upon  this  business,  he  was  as  effectually 
scalped  as  though  he  had  fallen  among  Indians 
and  been  operated  upon  by  their  dexterous  hands. 


51 


He  was,  one  night,  crossing  the  Green  Mountains, 
in  company  with  Judge  Hubbard,  when  the  coach 
in  which  they  rode  was  overturned  and  fell  down 
the  side  of  the  mountain,  rolling  completely  over. 
Mr.  Chase's  head  coming  in  contact  with  the  sharp 
corner  of  a  rib  in  the  roof  of  the  vehicle,  his  scalp 
was  torn  up  and  turned  forward  nearly  over  his 
eyes.  He  supposed  himself  to  be  fatally  injured, 
and  so  announced  in  a  loud  voice  to  his  compan- 
ion; which,  however,  was  not  the  case,  for  the 
skin  being  replaced  and  skilfully  dressed,  adhered 
and  grew  on  again  perfectly — the  scar  remaining 
through  life.  This  was  really  a  narrow  escape,  for 
had  not  the  coach  been  stopped  by  a  tree  it  must 
have  gone  a  very  great  distance  down,  in  which 
case  death  would  have  been  almost  certain. 

At  the  very  important  Convention  of  1832,  at 
which  time  Vermont  separated  itself  from  the 
Eastern  Diocese,  or  rather  Province — for  such  it 
really  was — and  the  first  Bishop  of  Vermont  was 
chosen,  Mr.  Chase's  activity  and  influence  were 
employed  most  wisely  and  usefully.  He  led  in 
the  legislation  by  which  the  separation  was  ef- 
fected; and,  being  chairman  of  the  committee, 
prepared  the  touching  and  admirable  parting  ad- 
dress of  the  diocese  to  the  venerable  Bishop 
Griswold. 

The  clergy  were  almost  equally  divided  in  their 
choice  of  a  new  bishop,  and  the  feeling  was  at 
first  so  strong  that  it  threatened  to  break  out  in 


52 


opposition  to  the  result  of  the  ballot.  A  lay  mem- 
ber of  that  convention,  a  man  of  excellent  mem- 
ory, attributes  much  of  the  fraternal  acquiescence 
which  followed  to  the  "conciliatory  course  of 
Mr.  Chase  *  *  *  *  his  manner  of  meeting 
the  opposition,  cool,  quiet,  dignified,  at  the  same 
time  firm;  not  once  losing  the  Christian  deport- 
ment which  followed  him  through  life." 

To  him  Vermont  is  indebted  for  the  first  sys- 
tematic attempt  to  collect  and  arrange  the  mate- 
rials for  a  history  of  the  Church  in  that  State.  The 
task  of  gathering  up  and  arranging  the  scattered 
and  often  disjointed  fragments  was  assigned  to 
him,  by  the  convention  of  1837.  This  movement 
resulted  in  the  collection  of  letters,  from  different 
rectors  in  the  diocese,  containing  parochial  history 
now  of  great  value,  and  in  his  preparing  the 
sketch  of  the  history  of  the  diocese  and  its  sev- 
eral parishes  which  was  printed  in  Thompson's 
Gazetteer  of  Vermont. 

Mr.  Chase  was  chosen  delegate  to  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Church  for  many  successive 
years,  but  attended  only  in  1823,  1832,  1835  and 
1838.  At  those  sessions,  however,  his  business 
tact,  as  well  as  his  soundness  of  judgment,  were 
so  remarkable  that  he  was  brought  into  contact 
with  all  the  leading  men  in  the  Church,  and  thus 
became  intimately  acquainted  with  very  many 
distinguished  persons,  both  clergymen  and  lay- 
men, from  all  parts  of  the  country. 


53 

About  the  year  1837,  the  Diocese  of  Vermont 
was  agitated  by  troubles  which  some,  who  talk  of 
the  "good  old  times,"  are  wont  to  consider  as 
belonging  only  or  chiefly  to  this  present.  A  cler- 
gyman named  Perkins,  who  was  settled  at  Arling- 
ton, was  so  ill-advised  as  to  attempt  to  substitute 
his  own  wisdom  for  that  of  the  Church,  in  the 
Order  for  Public  Worship.  Mr.  Perkins  was 
brought  to  trial  for  his  disorderly  practices.  Mr. 
Chase  was  appointed  Proctor,  and  attended  to  his 
duties  with  marked  ability.  The  same  captious 
advantage  was  taken,  by  Mr.  Perkins,  on  techni- 
cal points  and  there  was  the  same  working  up  of 
sympathy,  and  the  same  cry  of  persecution  which 
attend  similar  trials  now;  but  the  law  of  the 
Church  was  so  vindicated,  and  irregularities  so 
checked  by  this  act  of  discipline,  that  peace  has 
reigned  in  the  diocese  ever  since. 

In  the  year  1839,  Mr.  Chase  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  in  Divinity  from  the  University  of  Ver- 
mont. This  honor  was  peculiarly  grateful  to  the 
recipient,  coming  as  it  did  through  the  hands  of 
his  classmate  and  constant  friend,  the  Reverend 
President  James  Marsh. 

On  account  of  his  connection  with  Hopkinton 
and  Concord,  Doctor  Chase  was,  of  course,  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  the  Church 
in  New-Hampshire,  while  his  reputation  as  one  of 
the  first  men  in  Vermont  could  not  be  unknown 
to  the  churchmen  of  that  diocese.  Moreover  the 


54 

growing  and  united  parish  of  Iramanuel  Church, 
just  across  the  dividing  line,  was  a  constant 
witness  to  his  success  in  the  pastoral  relation. 
Accordingly,  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Griswold, 
in  1842,  the  thoughts  of  many  New-Hampshire 
churchmen  were  turned  towards  bringing  Doctor 
Chase  back  to  the  State  of  his  birth,  to  admin- 
ister in  that  diocese,  the  aifairs  of  the  Church 
in  which  he  had  been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  a 
successful  and  honored  presbyter. 

At  a  special  convention  of  the  Diocese  of  New- 
Hampshire,  held  at  Concord  on  the  4th  day  of 
October,  1843,  Doctor  Chase  was,  with  most  sin- 
gular and  gratifying  unanimity,  elected  Bishop. 
Having  consulted  his  own  diocesan,  Bishop  Hop- 
kins, and  maturely  considered  the  subject,  he  gave 
the  following  answer  to  the  communication  of  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  convention  to  an- 
nounce his  election. 

To  the  Eeverend  Charles  Burroughs,  D.  D., 
President  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Dio- 
cese of  New-Hampshire. 

REVEREND  AND  DEAR  SIR: — 

Through  a  committee  of 

your  convention  it  has  been  announced  to  me  that 
on  the  fourth  day  of  October  instant  I  was  unani- 
mously elected  to  the  Episcopate  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  that  diocese. 

In  answer,  I  respectfully  beg  leave  to  say,  that 
I  received  this  communication  with  humble  and 


reverent  submission  to  that  Divine  Redeemer  who 
appears  to  have  ordered  it,  and,  if  it  please  Him 
to  spare  my  life  and  health  till  the  canonical  time 
for  consecration  and  to  interpose  no  forbidding 
obstacle,  I  will,  in  devout  reliance  on  His  grace, 
hold  myself  in  readiness  for  the  further  solemni- 
ties necessary  to  the  consummation  of  this  act  of 
your  convention. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Reverend  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

CARLTON  CHASE. 
BELLOWS  FALLS,  Vr.,  Oct.  25,  1843. 


The  severance  of  his  ties  to  Immanuel  Parish 
caused  him  no  little  pain.  A  letter  written  home 
from  the  General  Convention  of  1838  contained  the 
following :  "  I  often  think  of  home  and  Immanuel 
Church,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  I  see  no  clergy- 
man here,  whom  I  believe  to  be  more  happily  sit- 
uated in  the  midst  of  an  affectionate  people  than 
I  am." 

He  wrote  the  following  touching  letter  to  the 
Reverend  Doctor  Sprague,  afterwards  of  Drews- 
ville,  under  date  of  October  9,  1843 : 

REVEREND  AND  DEAR  BROTHER: — 

I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for 
your  kind  letter,  and  wonder  greatly  how  you 
could  have  got  the  news  (of  the  election  to  the 
episcopate)  so  soon.  Yes,  the  brethren  in  New- 
Hampshire  have  solicited  me  to  become  their  chief 
pastor.  And  the  election  has  come  about  in  such 


56 


a  manner,  and  attended  with  such  circumstances 
as  to  affect  me  very  deeply.  I  am  informed  that 
though  the  members  of  Convention  came  together 
without  preconceived  agreement,  each  one,  almost, 
having  his  candidate;  yet  upon  conference  they 
settled  into  a  unanimous  decision,  hoth  clergy  and 
laity,  in  favour  of  your  unworthy  brother  and  fel- 
low laborer.  And  with  the  LORD'S  blessing,  on 
my  doing  what  in  me  lies,  they  shall  not  have  oc- 
casion to  regret  it.  Whether  I  shall  accede  to  the 
election  I  do  not  yet  decide.  Most  probably  I 
shall,  if  satisfactory  arrangements  can  be  made  on 
the  point  of  subsistence,  though  it  will  necessarily 
involve  the  sacrifice  of  comfort  and  ease,  and  the 
long  cherished  feelings  of  love  for  a  home  reared 
and"  arranged  by  my  own  hands,  and  pastoral  ties 
and  attachments  most  dear;  yet  there  are  consider- 
ations urging  to  it  which  have  much  force.  *  * 
I  love  Vermont,  and  shall  to  the  last  hour  of  my 
life: 

" For  her  my  tears  shall  fall; 

For  her  my  prayers  ascend;" 

and  I  would  that  I  might,  by  an  exchange  of  field, 
be  able  to  add  the  other  two  lines  of  the  stanza, 

"  To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given 
Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end." 

But  probably  it  is  not  so  to  be.  In  twenty-four 
years  I  have  done  much  for  Vermont,  and  she  has 
dealt  kindly  with  me.  GOD  bless  her, — and  bless 
her  Church,  and  guide  and  bless  her  Chief  Shep- 
herd. ******!  have  been  a  sad  man 
from  the  moment  this  matter  was  announced  to 
me.  I  find  my  roots  have  run  deep  in  this  spot, 
and  the  pulling  them  up  is  dreadful.  Too  much 


57 


for  my  own  comfort  hereafter  have  I  loved  this 
flock,  and  too  much  have  they  loved  and  indulged 
me.  l^ever,  never  was  a  pastor  more  blessed,  and 
few  are  the  Churches  so  united,  consistent,  faith- 
ful, prosperous  and  happy.  I  never  can  look  upon 
its  like  again.  There  is  not  a  soul  under  my 
charge,  old  or  young,  for  whom  I  do  not  entertain 
a  personal  affection,  and  from  whom  I  do  not 
receive  tokens  of  affection  returned.  GOD  bless 
Immaimel  Church  "and  all  her  children  within 
her,"  and  send  her  a  Shepherd  who  shall  faith- 
fully dispense  to  her  the  bread  and  water  of  life. 
Soliciting  another  letter,  and  begging  the  help  of 
your  prayers,  I  have  only  time  to  add  howjiffec- 
tionately  I  am 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

CARLTON  CHASE. 
REVEREND  N".  SPRAGUE. 

In  the  book  in  which,  for  years,  the  records  of 
the  alms  and  offerings  at  Holy  Communion  were 
kept,  at  Bellows  Falls,  is  the  following  entry: 

"April  7,  1844,  Easter  Communion,  $6.15 
Here  ends  my  blessed  and  happy  connection  with 
Immanuel  Church,  Bellows  Falls.  I  go  with  hope 
of  a  blessing  from  GOD,  to  labor  in  another  field. 
Claremont  is  henceforth  my  home,  and  Trinity 
Church  the  field  of  labor  to  which  Providence 
calls.  So  farewell  dear  flock  of  Immanuel  Church. 
The  LORD  be  with  you." 

Owing  to  his  election's  occurring  within  the 
year  before  the  meeting  of  the  General  Conven- 
tion, the  consecration  of  Doctor  Chase  could  not 
canonically  take  place  till  October,  1844.  It  was, 


58 

however,  thought  best  that  he  should  connect 
himself  with  the  diocese  at  an  earlier  day.  The 
choice  of  a  residence  lay  between  Concord  and 
Clareraont.  The  latter  place  was  decided  upon. 
It  being  arranged  that  with  his  bishopric  he 
should  assume  the  rectorship  of  the  Church  where 
he  might  reside,  he  took  charge  of  Trinity  Church, 
Claremont  on  the  first  Sunday  after  Easter  in 
1844.  This  parish  was  organized  as  a  corpora- 
tion separate  from  Union  Church,  whose  church 
edifice  was  in  West  Claremont,  in  the  summer 
of  1843 — Doctor  Chase  being  consulted  in  regard 
to  the  movement  while  under  consideration— *and 
the  Reverend  E.  A»  Greenleaf  was  engaged  to 
officiate  until  the  new  rector,  in  the  person  of  the 
Bishop  elect,  should  arrive,  which  he  did  in  the 
following  spring,  and  spent  the  summer  of  1844 
in  labors  among  the  people  of  his  new  charge, 
and  in  preparing  a  home  for  his  large  family. 

The  church  edifice,  which  was  purchased  from 
a  "union"  organization,  and  which  had  been  in 
use  for  several  years,  as  a  chapel  to  Union  Church 
was  a  curiously  constructed  brick  building  of  six* 
teen  sides,  with  windows  in  two  stories  thickly 
set  in.  The  roof  rose  to  a  point  in  the  centre, 
whence  a  nondescript  sort  of  cupola  seemed  to 
sprout.  There  was  originally  no  provision  made 
for  warming  in  winter,  people  depending  on  foot- 
stoves  and  a  vigorous  action  of  the  feet  when  the 
cold  was  too  intense  to  be  endured  in  quiet. 


59 

In  185},  after  strenuous  efforts,  a  new  church 
was  built,  which  still  challenges  the  admiration  of 
many  visitors.  Of  the  cost,  considerably  over  a 
thousand  dollars  was  contributed  by  Churches  in 
New- York,  out  of  personal  regard  for  Bishop 
Chase.  Meanwhile  the  parish  grew  steadily  in 
strength  and  character,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
vigorous  of  country  Churches.  This  rectorship 
Bishop  Chase  held  till  the  year  1863,  when  his 
infirmities  and  the  needs  of  the  diocese  rendered 
it  necessary  that  this  portion  of  his  cure  should  be 
relinquished.  The  diocese,  being  now  of  sufficient 
ability,  assumed  the  entire  burden  of  the  modest 
salary  agreed  upon — the  sum  of  nine  hundred 
dollars. 

Thus  ended  a  pastorate  of  forty-five  years,  di- 
vided between  only  two  parishes,  which  in  mutual 
love,  respect  and  esteem  never  faltered,  and  which 
was  accompanied  with  regular  and  abundant  suc- 
cess. 

In  October  the  General  Convention  met  at  Phil- 
adelphia where,  on  the  20th,  in  Christ  Church, 
with  Doctors  C.  S.  Hawks  and  N.  H.  Cobbs,  he 
was  consecrated  to  the  holy  office  of  a  Bishop 
in  the  Church  of  GOD  by  the  Right  Reverend 
Philander  Chase,  assisted  by  Bishops  Browiiell, 
Onderdonk  (of  New- York),  Ives  and  Smith. 

From  motives  of  delicacy,  having  but  just  been 
consecrated,  he  would  not  sit  on  the  trial  of 
Bishop  H.  U.  Onderdonk,  but  returned  home  to 


60 

commence  his  work  for  the  Church  in  Few- 
Hampshire.  The  first  entry  in  his  official  journal 
is,  "  October  28,  1844,  I  received  from  the  presid- 
ing Bishop  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  House 
of  Bishops  against  the  Right  Reverend  Henry 
Ustick  Onderdonk,  and  immediately  communicat- 
ed the  same  to  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese.  I  am 
sorry  to  begin  my  work  with  such  an  entry." 

It  is  proper  to  remark  here  that  Bishop  Chase, 
many  years  after,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  Convention 
of  1865  held  at  Philadelphia,  had  the  satisfaction 
of  aiding  materially  in  the  restoration  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk,  and  of  communicating  the  grateful 
news  to  the  loving  family  of  the  penitent  and  long 
enduring  Bishop. 

Under  date  of  November  2,  1844,  he  records  the 
transfer  of  I.  G.  Hubbard,  a  candidate  for  orders 
from  Connecticut,  to  the  Diocese  of  Few-Hamp- 
shire; whom  he  afterwards  ordained,  and  for 
whom,  during  many  years,  as  a  faithful  presbyter 
in  his  diocese,  he  felt  the  heartiest  affection;  in 
whose  judicious  counsels  he  had  the  greatest  con- 
fidence, and  upon  whom,  as  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  Claremont,  during  the  three  years  before 
his  death,  he  constantly  leaned  for  advice  and 
assistance.  Doctor  Hubbard's  respectful,  consid- 
erate kindness  Bishop  Chase  ever  acknowledged ; 
and  of  his  affectionate  solicitude  during  the  last 
illness  the  family  of  the  Bishop  now  desire  to 
record  their  grateful  appreciation. 


Gl 


Bishop  Chase's  first  visitation  was  made  No- 
vember 6,  1844,  at  Union  Church,  West  Clare- 
mont;  of  which  he  records,  "This,  my  first  Con- 
firmation, was  held  in  the  same  church  where 
that  sacred  rite  was  first  performed  by  the  late 
venerable  Bishop  Griswold." 

On  the  seventh  of  December  he  received  notice 
of  the  trial  of  Bishop  B.  T.  Onderdonk,  to  take 
place  at  New- York  on  the  tenth.  The  notice  was 
so  short  that,  perhaps  not  unwillingly,  he  was 
prevented  from  attending  the  trial.  Without  un- 
dertaking to  pass  judgment  in  a  cause  which  he 
had  not  heard,  he  always,  afterwards,  indulged 
the  kindest  feelings  to  wards  his  suspended  brother; 
and  sympathized  with  him  in  the  galling  bondage 
under  which  he  lay  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  connection  to  introduce 
a  history  of  the  Diocese  of  New-Hampshire  during 
the  Episcopate,  more  than  twenty-five  years  ill 
length,  of  Bishop  Chase.  Upon  his  accession  he 
found  but  twelve  organized  parishes  with  eleven 
clergymen ;  while  on  the  first  of  January,  1870, 
the  churches  numbered  twenty-three,  and  the 
clergy,  twenty-two. 

The  field  which  now  lay  before  him  in  the  Epis- 
copate was  far  different  from  the  Pastorate  he  had 
left.  At  Bellows  Falls  the  Episcopal  Church  was 
the  Church  of  the  village.  A  small  Methodist 
society  managed  to  live,  indeed,  but  public  opinion 
was  so  strong  in  favor  of  the  Church  and  its  ways, 


62 


that  the  clergyman's  work  for  it  was  always  com- 
paratively pleasant  and  easy.  New-Hampshire,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  at  that  time  like  a  sterile, 
rocky  pasture,  where  the  cultivated  plants  strug- 
gled feebly  for  existence,  and  almost  apologized  for 
not  absenting  themselves  altogether.  The  Church 
but  just  existed.  In  its  progress  there  was  no  head- 
way, no  momentum.  Every  movement  involved  a 
steady,  continuous  pull.  There  was  everything  to 
be  done,  and  also  nothing  to  do  with.  The  laity 
in  the  diocese  were  unused  to  paying  their  money, 
and  the  attention  of  those  outside  was  directed  to 
the  more  inviting  prospects  for  building  up  the 
Church  amid  the  new  countries  of  the  West. 

In  the  presence  of  all  these  difficulties,  however, 
the  work  was  diligently  carried  on.  The  various, 
Churches  were  visited  once,  and  often  twice,  each 
year.  The  old  parishes  were  encouraged,  and 
indications  of  new  openings  judiciously  and  ar- 
dently followed  up.  Thus  year  by  year,  with 
little  change,  the  work  went  on.  Now  and  then 
some  old  parish  would  give  evidence  of  increasing 
life  and  vigor,  or  an  especially  favorable  opening 
would  appear  for  a  new  one.  Many  a  time  was 
the  Bishop  called  upon  for  help  when  he  had  none 
to  give ;  and  he  found  the  slenderness  of  the  means 
at  his  disposal  the  chief  hindrance  to  the  mission- 
ary operations  he  desired  to  set  forward.  The 
daily  mail  brought  its  never-ending  round  of  cares. 
Difficulties  and  disputes,  which  in  larger  dioceses 


63 


are  of  necessity  settled  at  home,  were  sent  to  be 
laid  before  the. Bishop  for  adjudication.  No  one 
except  the  Bishop  of  a  small  diocese  can  under- 
stand how  near  the  labor  of  its  administration 
approaches  to  that  of  a  large  one. 

On  Sunday,  September  16,  1849,  Bishop  Chase 
visited  Keene,  where  the  Reverend  H.  K  Hudson 
was  officiating.  He  succeeded,  though  suffering 
great  pain,  in  preaching  in  the  morning,  but  kept 
his  room  during  the  afternoon.  The  next  day  he 
was  hardly  able  to  make  the  journey  home,  and 
when  he  reached  there,  immediately  betook  himself 
to  his  bed,  entirely  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  in- 
flammatory rheumatism.  Here  he  was  confined 
for  three  or  four  weeks,  not  recovering  strength 
until  the  last  of  the  month  following. 

The  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York  being 
at  this  time  under  disability,  the  necessary  episco- 
pal services  were  performed  by  various  Bishops, 
acting  at  the  request  of  the  Standing  Committee. 
On  the  5th  of  October  Bishop  Chase  was  invited 
to  take  temporary  charge  of  that  large  and  im- 
portant jurisdiction.  One  reason,  doubtless,  for 
his  selection  to  perform  this  duty,  was  the  fact, 
mentioned  before,  that  Bishop  Chase  had  np  part 
in  the  Onderdonk  trial;  and,  consequently,  was 
not  obnoxious  to  any  persons  or  parties  in  New- 
York, 

In  compliance  with  this  request,  though  before 
he  had  fully  recovered  his  strength,  he  started  for 


64 


the  scene  of  his  labors  on  the  thirty-first  of  Octo- 
ber. He  was  met  by  his  friend,  the  Reverend 
Benjamin  I.  Haight,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the  Stand- 
ing Committee,  at  whose  house  he  was  most  hos- 
pitably and  kindly  cared  for. 

He  rapidly  recovered  his  health  in  traveling 
from  parish  to  parish,  during  a  series  of  visitations 
which  lasted  six  weeks,  without  interruption. 
During  this  time  he  officiated  nearly  every  day, 
and  some  days  twice,  mostly  in  the  Churches  on 
Long  Island  and  Staten  Island,  and  in  West  Ches- 
ter County.  This  duty  was  unaccompanied  by 
remarkable  events,  but  was  lightened  by  many 
circumstances  of  the  most  agreeable  nature.  The 
excellent  and  hospitable  people  whom  he  met,  and 
at  whose  homes  he  staid;  and  the  hours  of  pleas- 
ant, social  intercourse  among  cultivated  people, 
became  never-ending  sources  of  pleasing  remin- 
iscences, and  were  often  spoken  of  by  the  Bishop 
with  cordial  appreciation  and  gratitude.  While 
on  this  visitation  he  held  service  in  forty-one 
churches  and  chapels;  confirmed  five  hundred 
and  forty  persons ;  ordained  two  priests ;  conse- 
crated five  churches,  and  delivered  nearly  fifty 
sermons  and  addresses;  besides  administering  Bap- 
tism and  the  Holy  Communion  on  several  occa- 
sions. No  untoward  event  of  any  kind  befell  him 
in  his  constant  journeys,  and  he  returned  home 
with  re-established  health  and  strength. 

On  the  22d  of  the  following  February  he  again, 


65 


by  request,  entered  upon  service  in  the  same 
diocese,  his  visitation  lasting  till  the  end  of  March. 
Of  this  second  visit  he  records  that  he  "  officiated 
on  thirty-three  occasions  in  thirty-two  churches 
or  parishes :  pronounced  sentence  of  degradation 
against  three  clergymen;  gave  the 'laying  on  of 
hands '  to  eight  hundred  and  ninety-three  persons 
in  Confirmation ;  delivered  forty  sermons  and 
addresses;  and  traveled  between  six  and  seven 
hundred  miles."  He  adds,  "I  feel  humbled  at 
the  thought  of  the  little  gratitude  which  warms 
my  heart  in  remembrance  of  the  mercy  and  good- 
ness which  carried  me  safely  and  happily  through 
so  great  an  undertaking.  Not  the  slightest  fail- 
ure, disaster,  loss  or  disappointment  of  any  kind. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  kind  attentions  and 
hospitable  assiduities  of  this  people  in  all  places. 
Again  I  must  bear  testimony  to  the  piety,  devo- 
tion, zeal  and  active  Christian  life  of  our  brethren, 
clerical  and  lay,  in  New  York.  Again  I  enjoyed 
the  hospitality  of  that  learned,  laborious,  and 
admirable  minister  of  Christ,  the  Reverend  Doc- 
tor Haight,  and  his  blessed  family.  My  grateful 
heart  will  ever  warm  towards  them  all.  How 
much  they  ministered  to  my  happiness  and  con- 
tributed to  my  useful  ministration,  GOD  only 
knows.  The  arrangements  made  for  the  meeting 
of  the  various  appointments,  by  the  Eeverend 
Doctor  Haight,  were  perfect  in  all  their  parts. 
With  no  trouble  nor  anxiety'to  myself,  at  the 


proper  time  a  carriage  was  sent  for  me  by  the 
clergyman  whose  church  I  was  to  visit;  service 
being  ended,  I  was  immediately  taken  to  whatever 
place  I  chose.  My  only  care  was  to  be  prepared 
for  each  appointment  at  the  proper  time.  My 
conveyance  depended  upon  others.  Oil  the  whole 
I  reckon  the  last  half  year  as  a  most  delightful 
portion  of  my  life." 

Bishop  Chase  was  again  placed  in  charge  of 
this  important  field  doing  duty  there  from  the 
first  of  May,  1852,  in  which  time  he  performed 
the  following  services:  Confirmed,  in  forty-six 
churches,  eleven  hundred  and  seventy-two  per- 
sons; Ordained  four  priests  and  two  deacons; 
Consecrated  three  churches;  delivered  fifty-nine 
sermons  and  addresses. 

He  continued  in  charge  till  the  Diocesan  Con- 
vention in  September,  having  spent  from  the  twen- 
tieth of  June  till  the  ninth  of  July,  and  from  the 
fourth  to  the  nineteenth  of  September. 

On  the  tenth  of  November  he  was  present  in 
Trinity  Church,  New- York,  at  the  consecration  of 
the  Eeverend  Doctor  Wainwright,  as  Provisional 
Bishop  of  that  Diocese.  He  records  of  this  ser- 
vice, "The  sermon,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Bish- 
op Brownell  and  of  Doctor  "Wainwright,  though 
quite  against  my  own  judgment,  and  inclination, 
was  delivered  by  myself.  It  was  a  day  of  surpass- 
ing interest.  There  were  ten  bishops  and  two 
hundred  clergymen  present,  and  a  congregation 


67 


of  two  thousand  people.  Thus  happily  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  in  New- York  are  settled.  In  this 
event  I  sincerely  rejoice." 

This  sermon,  one  of  the  best  from  the  pen  of 
Bishop  Chase,  was  received  with  the  heartiest  en- 
comiums and  was  published. 

On  the  seventh  of  October,  1852,  Bishop  Chase 
attended  the  first  trial  of  Bishop  Doane,  at 
which  time  the  complaint  was  dismissed.  Of 
the  re-opening  of  the  case,  September  15,  1853, 
when,  after  an  examination  of  thirteen  days,  the 
complaint  was  again  dismissed,  he  records :  "  The 
decision  was  unanimous.  None  were  dissatisfied, 
apparently,  except  the  presenters  and  those  per- 
sons, enemies  and  revilers  of  Bishop  Doane — of 
whom  there  is  but  a  small  class  in  the  Diocese — 
who  had  long  been  virulent  and  bent  on  destroy- 
ing the  Bishop.  With  a  most  noble,  manly  and 
Christian  bearing,  and  with  an  ability  of  the  most 
transcendent  order,  he  managed  his  own  case. 
Thus  this  troublesome  business  has  been  finally 
disposed  of,  and  can  never  be  brought  up  again. 
It  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  supposed  that  the 
presenting  Bishops  were  governed  by  bad  motives, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
recording  that,  in  my  opinion,  they  greatly  erred 
in  judgment.  They  listened  too  readily  to  scurril- 
ous tales ;  and  they  ought  to  have  rested  satisfied 
with  the  proceedings  of  the  year  before.  I  can- 
not comprehend  the  views  of  duty  which  engaged 


68 

them  in  this  second  prosecution.  It  is  wonderful 
how  united  the  Churchmen  of  New-Jersey  are  in 
their  Bishop." 

In  the  year  1852  an  act  of  incorporation  was 
procured  from  the  Legislature,  by  which  a  board 
of  Trustees  was  empowered  to  hold  property  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Church  in  New-Hampshire. 
This  was  an  important  step,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  accomplishment  of  much  good  in 
future  years.  The  Bishop  writes  of  it,  "  I  think 
we  can  now  manage  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the 
Church  in  this  Diocese  to  good  advantage." 

In  October,  1854,  movements  were  initiated, 
which  ended,  by  the  munificent  liberality  of  Doc- 
tor Shattuck,  of  Boston,  in  the  establishment  of 
a  boys'  boarding  school,  at  Concord,  under  the 
title  of  St.  Paul's  School,  which  stands  second,  in 
sound  scholarship  and  in  reputation,  to  none  in 
this  country.  In  this  institution  and  its  affairs, 
the  Bishop  took  the  greatest  interest;  and  his 
pains,  with  those  of  the  other  Trustees,  of  the 
Founder,  and  of  him  who  has  been  from  the  be- 
ginning the  Eector  of  the  School,  have  been  fully 
rewarded  by  the  marked  success  which  has  attend- 
ed the  enterprise  from  the  very  beginning. 

During  the  early  portion  of  his  Episcopate,  the 
only  mode  of  communication  with  the  middle  and 
eastern  portion  of  the  Diocese  was  by  a  toilsome 
journey  of  fifty  miles  by  stage.  One  had  to  rise 
long  before  daylight  to  avail  himself  even  of  that 


69 


conveyance.  Several  times  each  year  the  Bishop 
undertook  this  labor,  and  never  spared  himself 
any  exertion  necessary  to  the  performance  of  his 
duties.  The  project  of  connecting  Claremont 
with  Concord  by  a  railroad  was  often  debated, 
and  indeed,  one  was  constructed,  over  a  portion 
of  the  distance.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1870,  the  full  completion  of  the  enterprise  seemed 
near,  and  it  was  thought  that  Bishop  Chase  might 
yet  live  to  enjoy  its  benefits.  This  however  was 
not  granted  him.  To  the  end  of  his  active  life,  in 
all  weariness  and  pain,  a  long  detour,  or  a  stage 
ride,  greatly  dreaded  by  him  in  his  weakness,  was 
necessary  in  order  to  cross  the  State  to  the  east- 
ern portion  of  his  charge. 

Bishop  Chase  attended  the  General  Convention 
which  sat  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  in  the  fall  of 
1859.  There  he  made  many  friends,  Mr.  Botts, 
Mr.  Rives,  and  others,  with  whom  he  afterwards 
had  much  correspondence,  in  relation  to  the 
troubles  in  which  the  country  was  then  involved. 
It  is  well  known  that,  in  Virginia  there  were,  at 
that  time,  many  men  who,  after  their  own  fashion, 
were  ardent  lovers  of  the  Union.  The  Bishop 
had  frequent  communication  with  them,  in  the 
winter  of  1860-61,  in  the  course  of  which  they 
begged  him  to  endeavor  so  to  influence  action 
at  the  North  as  to  enable  them  to  hold  the  South 
to  duty,  and  thus  to  save  the  Country.  Bishop 
Chase,  though  never  sacrificing  his  just  pride  in 


70 


the  rectitude  of  the  North,  did  all  that  was  pos- 
sible at  the  time.  The  difficulties  were  not  to  he 
settled  in  that  way.  These  people  were  but  try- 
ing to  put  the  new  wine  of  the  public  opinion  of 
1860  into  the  old  bottles  of  1789;  consequently, 
after  several  patchings,  the  old  bottles  utterly 
failed.  The  new  will  now  probably  hold  the  wine 
for  many,  many  years. 

During  the  winter  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
the  Bishop  was  much  troubled  at  the  condition  of 
the  country,  and  in  a  sermon,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  National  Fast,  in  April,  1861,  labored  to  as- 
suage the  excitement  and  wrath  of  the  multitude. 
He  was  by  nature  and  from  long  habit  unable  to 
believe  that  all  the  good  was  to  be  found  on  one 
side,  and  had  many  words  of  warning  for  men  at 
the  North  as  well  as  for  those  at  the  South.  After 
the  war  fairly  opened,  however,  his  patriotic  zeal 
for  the  Union  was  without  stint  or  measure,  and 
he  lived  to  see  her  fully  and  triumphantly  restored. 
The  officers  of  government  who  were  stationed  near 
his  residence,  have  spoken  warmly  of  the  assist- 
ance they  derived  from  his  counsel  and  example. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  he  was  attacked  with  a 
violent  Pneumonia,  which,  though  thrown  off  for 
the  time,  so  seriously  affected  his  health  that  he 
was  never  after  entirely  free  from  its  effects.  From 
that  time  must  be  dated  the  decline  which  ended 
in  his  death  on  the  18th  of  January,  1870.  In  the 
summer  following  that  sickness,  he  resigned  the 


71 


rectorship  which,  blessed  with  the  undiminished 
affection  and  regard  of  those  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered, he  had  held  for  nearly  twenty  years.  The 
Bishop  thenceforth  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the 
interests  of  the  Diocese. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1864,  Mrs. 
Chase  was  in  feeble  health,  though  not  supposed 
to  be  in  a  critical  condition.  Her  husband  and 
children  viewed  her  condition  with  solicitude,  but 
not  with  alarm.  In  the  course  of  the  summer,  she 
visited  her  friends  in  the  neighboring  towns  with 
great  satisfaction;  still  she  was  not  permanently 
relieved  from  the  unfavorable  symptoms.  In 
August,  Bishop  Chase  went  on  a  visitation  to  Lan- 
caster, in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and 
while  there,  visited  an  old  parishioner  in  the  town 
of  Guildhall,  Vt.,  and  was  entreated  to  remain 
several  days.  Though  there  was  no  apparent 
reason  for  declining,  yet  he  had  a  feeling  that  he 
must  not  delay  his  return  home.  He  accordingly 
hastened  thither,  reaching  Claremont  on  Thurs- 
day, August  25.  He  found  on  his  arrival  that 
Mrs.  Chase  had  just  been  seized  with  a  serious 
attack  of  illness,  and  was  sinking  rapidly;  so  rap- 
idly, that  on  the  following  Saturday  she  breathed 
her  last.  The  Bishop  often  mentioned  this  provi- 
dential circumstance — his  being  brought  home,  as 
it  were,  when  there  seemed  no  occasion  for  com- 
ing :  for  there  was  great  reason  for  his  presence 
with  his  family. 


72 


Mrs.  Chase  was  a  woman  of  the  most  excellent 
Christian  character,  and  of  the  highest  and  best 
qualities  both  of  mind  and  heart.  Entirely  unob- 
trusive, but  gentle,  loving  and  sympathetic,  she 
was  not  one  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  crowd, 
nor  to  charm  the  casual  observer;  but  her  friends 
were  bound  to  her  by  no  ordinary  ties  of  affection, 
and  valued  her  regard  by  no  meagre  standard. 
Among  them  she  was  the  pattern  Christian  woman, 
to  be  compared  with  whom  was  deemed  the 
highest  praise.  The  influence  of  her  example, 
and  even  of  her  peace-breathing  presence  was  a 
great  assistance  to  her  husband  in  his  pastoral 
relations.  Her  memory  is  inexpressibly  dear  to 
her  children,  who  can  never  cease  to  regard  and 
reverence  in  her  the  tender,  even-tempered,  loving 
mother,  and  the  best  of  women. 

Though  calm  and  self-possessed  through  the 
whole,  the  Bishop  felt  the  death  of  his  wife 
most  keenly.  His  affection  for  her  was  deep  and 
tender,  and  his  thoughts  constantly  dwelt  upon 
her  beloved  memory  during  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life. 

Bishop  Chase  attended  to  the  business  of  his 
diocese  in  the  most  prompt  and  careful  man- 
ner, being  called  upon  to  exercise  his  influence 
and  power  in  all  sorts  of  affairs,  many  of  which 
in  larger  jurisdictions  never  reach  the  Bishop's 
ear.  His  tact  at  reconciling  differences  was  re- 
markable, and  was  more  effectual  because  he 


73 

never  moved  in  haste,  nor  on  a  partial  view  of  a 
matter. 

During  the  remainder  of  his  Episcopate,  there 
is  little  to  call  for  special  notice.  His  record  of 
events  remains  to  the  Church,  and  furnishes  a 
minute  and  systematic  history  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Diocese.  Up  to  the  year  1869  he  per- 
formed in  his  own  person  the  duties  of  his  office 
almost  without  exception.  Though  deeply  feeling 
his  increasing  infirmities,  nevertheless  he  always 
accomplished  the  work.  But  at  this  time,  on  his- 
request,  he  was  kindly  relieved  of  some  of  these 
labors  by  the  Bishops  of  Maine  and  Vermont. 

The  last  entry  in  his  record  bears  date  of  Jan- 
uary 1,  1870,  and  is  in  a  handwriting  almost  a& 
firm  as  the  entries  of  twenty  years  before. 

Bishop  Chase  was  one  of  those  men  who  live 
on  to  comparative  old  age  in  a  condition  not  far 
removed  from  sickness.  His  health  in  childhood 
was  very  poor,  and  his  illness  in  College  was 
thought  to  have  destroyed  what  little  constitution 
he  had  possessed.  Several  sicknesses  afterwards 
added  to  his  disordered  condition.  When  a 
young  man  he  set  his  life  to  end  at  forty,  and 
after  that  was  constantly  in  expectation  of  an 
early  demise.  During  the  last  five  or  six  years, 
the  physicians  felt  that  he  might  be  taken  away 
at  any  time ;  this  was  his  own  belief;  and  in  the 
long  and  lonely  hours  of  sleepless  nights  he 
thought  much  of  eternity,  beguiling  the  time  with 


74 


the  hymns  and  collects  with  which  his  memory 
was  stored.  His  mind  could  scarcely  be  said  to 
have  failed,  although,  during  the  last  few  months, 
the  power  of  concentration  was  very  much  im-* 
paired.  Long  continued  attention  exceedingly 
fatigued  him;  and  matters  which  Would  have 
seemed  easy  and  clear  when  he  was  in  health, 
now  worried  him  inexpressibly.  His  judgment 
was  still  sound,  and  his  apprehension  of  the  re- 
lations of  things  perfect.  His  memory  of  recent 
events  became  somewhat  treacherous  at  the  last, 
but  as  to  events  long  past  it  was  as  good  as  ever. 

His  fatal  illness  commenced  on  Monday  morn- 
ing, the  10th  of  January>  in  the  form  of  a  slight 
numbness  of  the  left  hand  and  arm,  which  spread 
gradually  to  his  entire  side.  This  so  passed  away 
in  the  course  of  the  forenoon,  that  he  spent  the 
afternoon  and  evening  in  the  most  pleasing  and 
easy  conversation  with  his  family.  Tuesday  morn- 
ing he  was  unable  to  finish  dressing  without  help, 
and  was  assisted  to  a  lounge  in  his  study.  He 
lay  upon  this  in  great  uneasiness,  which  steadily 
increased  till  half-past  eleven,  when  a  spasmodic 
attack  came  on.  This  passed  away,  but  was  re- 
peated at  two,  at  five,  and  at  seven,  leaving  him 
almost  unconscious,  and  in  a  state  of  great  nerv- 
ous agitation.  After  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening 
these  attacks  did  not  recur,  and  he  gradually 
became  more  quiet.  On  "Wednesday  morning  a 
good  prospect  appeared  of  a  substantial  rally. 


75 

The  next  day,  however,  typhoid  symptoms  set  in, 
under  which  he  sank ;  and  on  the  following  Tues- 
day, at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  his  spirit 
quietly  departed. 

During  this  sickness  his  mind  often  wandered. 
He  fancied  himself  away  from  home,  taken  sick 
while  in  attendance  upon  a  Convocation  of  his 
clergy ;  and  was  constantly  hoping  to  be  able  to 
return  to  his  own  home,  that  place  of  comfort 
and  rest.  He  recognized,  and  was  glad  to  see,  all 
his  friends.  His  family  find  satisfaction  in  the 
thought  that  everything  which  constant  care  and 
watchfulness,  and  the  skill  of  his  physician  could 
effect,  wras  done  for  their  dying  father  and  friend. 
From  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  his  first 
attack,  he  was  attended  with  unremitting  assi- 
duity; friends  and  neighbors  most  kindly  adding 
their  efforts  to  those  of  the  family  in  this  work 
of  love.  And  his  trusted  friend,  the  rector  of  the 
parish  with  which  he  himself  had  been  so  long 
connected,  was  often  by  his  bedside,  and  at  the 
last  commended  his  soul  to  GOD  in  the  prayers  of 
His  holy  Church.  The  Bishop  was  patient  under 
all  suffering  and  affliction,  and  grateful  for  every 
attention.  He  joined  in  the  prayers  which  were 
daily  offered  by  his  bedside,  and  at  last,  quietly 
and  without  a  struggle,  gave  up  the  ghost, — his 
form  was  with  us,  but  his  spirit  had  returned 
to  GOD  who  gave  it.  Truly,  he  died  the  death 
of  the  righteous, — may  our  last  end  be  like  his. 


III. 


THE  character  of  Ca'rlton  Chase  was  singularly 
rounded  and  symmetrical ;  and  in.  this  very  sym- 
etry  lies  the  difficulty  of  giving  it  an  adequate  de- 
scription. An  intimate  friend  writes  of  him — "In 
a  character  so  admirably  proportioned,  as  was  the 
Bishop's,  in  a  life  and  conversation  so  harmonious, 
there  could  be  little  of  the  sensational  or  telling 
order.  Biographies  of  such  men  as  he  are  the 
hardest  to  write,  for  the  general  reader.  Lives 
that  are  in  themselves  evangels,  seem  to  render 
commentary  and  illustration  alike  needless  and 
unsatisfactory.  Yet  it  is  precisely  such  lives  that 
stir  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  been  privileged 
to  read  them  most  closely,  with  the  irrepressible 
desire  to  lay  them  open  to  the  larger  audience." 

Bishop  Chase  was  rather  a  man  of  ability  than 
of  genius.  His  was  an  active — a  working  mind; 
not  rapid,  but  steady  and  thorough  in  its  action; 
not  fitted  for  the  easy  yet  brilliant  exhibitions 
which  excite  the  astonishment  and  kindle  the 
admiration  of  the  public,  but  for  the  successful 
evolution,  by  diligent  study,  of  the  principles 
which  are  most  useful  to  man  in  all  his  various 
relations.  He  was  eminently  an  exact  man — 
early  training  and  long  use  having  rendered  this 


77 


habit  a  second  nature.  Every  thing  he  undertook 
was  accomplished  in  his  best  possible  manner,  and 
at  the  precise  time  required.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  punctual  of  men,  and  so  strenuous  was  he 
on  this  point  that  it  is  probable  that  he  never,  by 
his  own  negligence,  caused  loss  of  time  to  another. 

Nature  endowed  Bishop  Chase  with  a  well  bal- 
anced mind,  and  gave  him  energy  and  persever- 
ence  for  its  cultivation.  No  unusual  aptitude 
made  him  easily  great  in  some  conspicuous  de- 
partment— in  fact,  nothing  was  easy  unless  it  had 
become  such  by  previous  hard  work. 

He  says  of  himself — "I  have  written  a  great 
deal  for  magazines  and  religious  newspapers,  but 
have  published  no  books.  Having  an  active 
mind,  I  should  probably  have  done  something  in 
this  way  if  chirography,  or  the  mechanical  opera- 
tion of  writing  had  not  always  been  very  irksome. 
I  never  could  see  what  pleasure  there  was  in  scrib- 
bling characters  on  paper.  Habit  has,  however, 
long  since  reconciled  me  to  it,  in  a  degree,  so  that 
I  compose  sermons  with  nothing  very  unpleasant 
in  the  labor."  For  sermon-writing  he  had  certain 
days  in  the  week  set  apart,  and  of  them  particular 
hours,  each  of  which  must  produce  its  quota  of 
manuscript.  He  says—"  As  to  the  modus  operandi 
of  executing  a  composition,  I  take  leave  to  remark 
here  that,  at  an  early  period,  I  cultivated  the 
habit  of  getting  every  thought  perfectly  into  form, 
even  to  a  single  word,  before  I  began  to  lay  it  on 


78 

paper.  This  was  painful,  laborious  and  slow,  at 
first,  but  it  contributed  greatly  to  accuracy  of 
expression  and  distinctness  of  conception,  and  at 
length  became  easy  and  tolerably  rapid.  I  seldom 
copy  anything  for  the  purpose  of  correction  or 
alteration,  or  to  get  rid  of  the  necessity  for  un- 
couth interlineations."  He  made  a  point  of  con- 
sidering upon  every  thought,  which  he  desired  to 
put  into  words,  till  he  was  sure  he  had  it  framed 
in  the  best  possible  manner.  Even  the  simplest 
announcements  in  church  were  carefully  prepared, 
PO  that  he  might,  without  peradventure,  tell  the 
congregation  just  what  he  wished  them  to  know. 
At  the  same  time,  whether  from  lack  of  the  pe- 
culiar faculty,  want  of  early  discipline,  or  from  his 
habitual  diligent  care  in  the  selection  of  words, 
when  seated  at  his  writing  table,  he  was  not  ready 
at  expressing  himself  extempore. 

His  style  of  composition  was,  ordinarily,  plain 
even  to  excess.  On  appropriate  occasions  it  could 
be  eloquent — even  grand,  but  never  ornate.  He 
employed  no  rhetorical  tricks  nor  expedients  for 
gaining  attention";  but,  on  subjects  of  high  im- 
port, having  noble  thoughts  he  embodied  them  in 
fittingly  noble  words.  His  sermons  were  very 
largely  subjective — dealing  in  argument,  and  in 
appeal  only  as  based  on  and  growing  out  of  the 
argument. 

His  early  reading,  other  than  theological,  consist- 
ed chiefly  of  Shakspeare,  the  Spectator,  and  the 


79 


metaphysical  writings  of  the  time.  These  works 
taught  him  accuracy  and  nicety  of  expression  but 
gave  him  a  language  that  was  singularly  free  from 
the  qualities  that  attract  listeners  to  itself.  The 
ideas  of  the  preacher  shone  through  his  words  into 
the  mind  of  the  hearer — the  language  dropping 
instantly  out  of  appreciation. 

The  philosophical  speculations  of  Coleridge, 
coming  to  him  as  they  did,  fresh  from  the  author's 
mind  and  hand,  were  his  especial  delight,  He  had 
correspondence  upon  them  and  upon  subjects  sug- 
gested by  them  with  many  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  time.  The  earlier  years  of  his  ministry  were 
rife  with  troublesome  questionings,  whereby  less 
stable  souls  were  led  off  into  the  paths  of  error. 
In  all  these  discussions  Mr.  Chase  bore  his  full 
share,  working  out  his  own  conclusions  in  faith, 
but  with  great  searchings  of  heart.  He  saw  clearly 
the  danger  towards  which  many  were  drifting,  and 
distinguished,  from  the  true  pointings  of  sound 
philosophy  and  of  revelation,  the  false  lights 
which  led  astray  numbers,  both  among  ministers 
andpeople,  of  persons  of  the  warmest  hearts  and 
most  sincere  piety.  The  influence  of  his  thought- 
ful mind  was  powerful  to  stimulate  and  direct 
thought  in  others;  and  several  men  who,  coming 
from  other  bodies  of  Christians,  have  adorned  the 
ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  owe  to  his 
suggestions  that  impulse  to  study  their  position 
which  led  to  the  change. 


80 


Bishop  Chase's  knowledge,  both  of  things  com- 
mon and  of  those  not  generally  known  was  ex- 
tensive, and  surprisingly  accurate.  So  far  as  he 
proceeded  with  a  subject,  he  mastered  it.  In  his 
best  days,  any  question  relating  to  the  learning 
current  from  his  youth  up  to  that  time,  would 
receive  an  instructive  answer.  Whatever  subject 
might  be  discussed  in  the  lecture-room,  or  else- 
where, it  had  almost  invariably  been  studied  by 
himself  long  before.  He  seemed  to  have  read, 
with  interest  and  profit,  works  on  all  subjects  to 
which  attention  was  liable  to  be  called. 

His  taste  for  mathematics  was  strongly  devel- 
oped, while  in  Latin  and  Greek  he  was  by  no 
means  deficient.  On  one  occasion,  several  years 
after  leaving  college,  he  found  himself  able  to 
converse  intelligibly,  by  means  of  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, with  a  Pole,  whom  he  chanced  to  meet  in 
a  stage-coach,  utterly  unable  to  make  himself 
understood  in  his  own  native  tongue,  and  totally 
ignorant  of  ours.  He  was  an  expert  mineralogist 
and  geologists  His  connection  with  Diocesan 
business,  in  Vermont  leading  him  into  all  parts 
of  the  State,  he  amused  himself  by  examining 
its  physical  formations,  and  by  gathering  speci- 
mens of  the  minerals  which  the  country  afforded. 
Thus,  and  by  exchange  with  other  men,  of  like 
tastes,  he  accumulated  a  cabinet  of  no  mean  value 
and  extent.  He  was,  in  Bellows  Falls,  one  of  the 
original  promoters  and  principal  managers  in  an 


81 


enterprise,  then  new  and  untried,  for  bringing 
water  through  long  distances  from  the  spring  to 
the  consumer.  He  refreshed  his  scientific  knowl- 
edge by  such  practice  as  the  establishment,  in 
conjunction  with  his  friend,  the  now  venerable 
Dr.  Elisha  E.  Phelps,  of  Windsor,  Yt,  of  a  true 
meridian  line  in  the  town  where  he  lived;  also, 
by  measuring  the  height  of  neighboring  mount- 
ains, by  the  aid  of  the  barometer. 

His  mechanical  taste  was  great,  and  his  practi- 
cal skill  considerable.  His  "  work-shop"  was  a 
favorite  resort  when  tired  with  the  labors  of  the 
study.  When  Immanuel  Parish  built  a  lecture- 
room,  their  rector  made  all  the  settees  for  it  with 
his  own  hands.  And  many  old  friends  now 
possess  tokens  of  his  kind  remembrance  in  the 
shape  of  choice  bits  of  furniture  which  he  made 
for  them.  Gardening  and  the  care  of  fruit  trees 
was  another  great  source  of  recreation  and  pleas- 
ure. He  kept  a  diary,  for  many  years,  in  which 
he  recorded  events  as  he  happened  to  feel  their 
importance  or  himself  in  the  mood  for  it.  Of 
keeping  this  record  he  writes — "Aug.  12,  1832. 
A  long  hiatus  in  this  important  journal!  How 
easily  we  neglect  and  forget  what  we  mean  to  do 
regularly.  Nothing  particularly  memorable  has 
occurred  since  the  last  date,  as  I  remember."  He 
added  to  this  entry,  several  months  after, — u  I  did 
not,  however,  exactly  mean  to  do  this  regularly 
but,  simply,  just  as  and  when  the  humor  took 


82 

me."  When  he  grafted  his  trees  he  recorded, 
with  care,  the  situation  of  the  tree,  the  variety  of 
the  cion,  the  method  pursued  in  doing  the  work, 
and,  afterward,  the  result.  At  one  time  he  set 
down,  with  great  apparent  satisfaction,  the  very 
careful  and  skilful  manner  in  which  he  performed 
the  operation,  and  also  his  strong  faith  in  the 
growth  of  a  particular  cion.  Against  this  entry 
he  subsequently  wrote,  with  some  little  grim 
humor,  "  It  failed  notwithstanding."  He  more- 
over made  record  of  the  changes  of  the  weather, 
the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  the  rains  and 
snows.  The  book,  however,  suffered  seriously 
from  frequent  seasons  of  neglect,  which  he  now 
and  then  deplored,  in  a  serio-comic  vein,  saying — 
"I  never  could  keep  a  journal."  In  another  place 
he  wrote — "  This  book  is  a  perfect  melange." 
Sometime  afterward  he  added — "  Did  I  say  perfect  ? 
Much  depends,  I  say,  on  what  I  meant  by  the 
word.  lie  who  produces  a  *  perfect  melange '  does 
a  good  thing,  so  far  as  a  perfect  melange  is  of  use. 
But  if  thejnore  perfect  the  melange  the  more 
useless,  he  who  produces  it  does  an  ill  thing." 

In  his  religious,  as  in  his  literary  character, 
Bishop  Chase  was  unostentatious  to  a  degree. 
There  was  in  it  no  element  of  noise  or  vehemence. 
He  had  no  fancy  for  mere  "pious  talk,"  or  the 
sort  of  religion  which  shows  itself  greatly  through 
movements  of  the  tongue.  Consequently,  many 
good  people  misunderstood  him,  and  some,  whose 


83 


religion  was  of  a  different  sort,  thought  he  had 
none,  because  its  manifestations  in  him  were  dif- 
ferent from  those  in  their  own  case. 

Whatever  he  deemed  to  he  his  duty  he  did 
inexorably.  A  friend  writes — •"  There  is  an  inci- 
dent in  your  fathers  life,  which  occurs  to  me  as 
especially  characteristic.  It  was  told  me  by  him- 
self. During  the  early  days  of  his  ministry,  he 
became  specially  interested  in  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  one  of  his  parishioners,  a  man  of  exceptionable 
breadth  of  character,  warmth  of  heart,  and,  as 
the  pastor  thought,  of  unusual  capacity  for  spirit- 
ual growth.  He  was  not  a  man  of  culture,  not 
a  gentleman,  in  the  conventional  sense,  and  his 
life  was  somewhat  irregular.  Among  his  beset- 
ting temptations  was  a  passion  for  cards.  On  one 
occasion  he  had  sought  the  rector's  study  for 
counsel  and  comfort,  when  the  pastor  thought  it 
a  good  time  to  warn  him  of  the  danger  he  was 
in  through  his  love  of  play.  The  man  heard  him 
with  respect  and  earnest  attention,  and  then  re- 
plied— « I  have  heard,  sir,  that  you  are  very  fond 
of  a  game  of  chess ;  now  is  there  any  more  harm 
in  my  cards  than  in  your  chess?'  The  pastor  was 
silent  for  a  moment,  then  said,  '  Look  here,  my 
friend,  I  will  make  a  bargain  with  you :  if  you 
will  give  me  your  word  never  to  play  another 
game  of  cards,  I  will  pledge  you  mine  never  to 
play  another  game  of  chess.'  The  man,  in  his 
turn,  was  silent  with  astonishment,  and  apparently 


84 


greatly  moved.  '  Do  you  mean  it,  sir,'  he  asked 
at  length.  '  I  assuredly  mean  it/  answered  the 
pastor.  '  Then  it  is  a  bargain,'  said  the  man. 
*  And  from  that  day  to  this/  said  the  Bishop,  as 
he  told  me  the  story,  '  I  have  never  played  a  game 
of  chess,  nor  do  I  believe  that  man  ever  played 
cards  after  his  promise,'  I  ventured  to  say  some 
thing  about  the  sacrifice  of  an  innocent  and  in- 
tellectual recreation  having  no  analogy  to  the 
putting  away  of  an  incipient  vice.  '  Do  you 
suppose/  he  answered,  'that  man  would  have 
understood  any  such  tine  wire-drawing?  Don't 
you  suppose  it  would  have  had  the  appearance  of 
sophistry,  with  him,  though  he  could  not  have  so 
named  it?  And  was  I  to  hesitate  at  resigning  an 
amusement  when  it  was  a  question  of  doing  my 
best  towards  saving  a  soul  ? ' ': 

In  his  pastoral  labors  Bishop  Chase  was  assidu- 
ous in  sowing  the  good  seed,  and  then  patient  in 
waiting  for  the  promised  harvest.  He  used  the 
regularly  appointed  means  for  doing  the  Lord's 
work;  consequently,  without  times  of  either  spas- 
modic activity  or  of  spiritual  dearth,  the  additions 
to  his  list  of  communicants  were  always  regular 
and  satisfactory.  In  his  diocesan  work  he  seldom 
made  haste.  He  believed  that,  in  ordinary  cases, 
the  movement  that  would  not  endure  the  test  of 
time — the  test  of  waiting  till  the  morrow  when 
it  could  best  be  taken  in  hand,  had  better  not  be 
taken  hold  of  to-day.  He  never  made  promises 


85 


trusting  to  good  fortune  to  enable  him  to  fulfil 
them — that  rock  whereon  so  many  eminent  and 
good  men  wreck  both  themselves  and  the  cause 
that  they  have  in  hand. 

The  characteristic  of  his  administration  was, 
having  little  to  do  with,  to  make  the  most,  pru- 
dently and  diligently,  of  that  little,  Eminently  a 
careful,  clear-headed  business  man,  he  carried  on 
the  secular  affairs  of  his  diocese  strictly  upon 
safe  business  principles.  In  his  private  affairs, 
he  adorned  the  doctrine  which  he  preached,  by 
a  life  of  perfect  purity  and  uprightness.  Keeping 
his  expenses  rigorously  within  his  means,  he 
always  had  money  to  pay  for  what  he  bought,  and 
never  bought  that  for  which  he  could  not  pay. 
A  tradesman,  in  Claremont,  with  whom  he  dealt 
for  many  years,  says  he  never  differed  with  Bish- 
op Chase  in  relation  to  an  account  except  in  two 
or  three  instances,  when,  upon  settlement,  it  was 
found  that  the  Bishop's  private  pass-book  con- 
tained several  items  not  set  down  in  the  bill  as 
rendered.  These,  to  the  amount  of  several  dol- 
lars, he  always  paid — simply  because  he  knew 
they  were  due,  though  the  tradesman  omitted  to 
charge  them.  He  was  true  and  just  in  all  his 
dealings,  and  consequently  died,  not  only  without 
an  enemy,  but  universally  honored  and  respected. 

He  was  habitually  slow  in  the  utterance  of 
opinions,  not  throwing  off  crude  and  ill-digested 
dicta,  which  he  must,  upon  reflection,  modify. 


It  may  be  truly  said  that  never,  even  in  the  most 
earnest  advocacy  of  what  he  deemed  right  and 
desirable,  did  he  speak  unadvisedly  with  his  lips. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  brethren  he  was 
eminently  a  conciliator  and  peace-maker.  He 
was  such,  not  by  the  use  of  persuasion  or  soft  talk, 
but  because  all  parties,  feeling  sure  that  they  pos- 
sessed his  sincere  regard  and  affection,  as  well  as 
having  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  his  judg- 
ment, gladly  received  him  as  umpire  in  their  dif- 
ferences. He  saw  good  among  the  partizans  who 
were  ranged  on  both  sides  of  a  question ;  while 
his  calm,  judicial  cast  of  mind  enabled  him  to 
render  a  just  judgment  in  the  matter  at  issue. 
He,  moreover,  while  holding  his  own  opinions 
strongly,  could  perceive  the  virtues  of  those  who 
differed  with  him.  During  his  terms  of  service  in 
I'Tew-York,  he  moved  among  the  adherents  of  all 
the  conflicting  parties,  then  painfully  rife,  win- 
ning the  hearty  regard  of  all,  and  retaining  it  to 
the  last.  He  had,  at  that  time,  a  correspondence 
with  Doctor  Tyng,  which  was  characteristic  of  and 
honorable  to  both.  The  Bishop's  flock  in  Clare- 
mont  were  engaged  in  erecting  a  new  church. 
Towards  this  enterprise  the  Doctor  promised  a 
certain  sum  of  money;  but  afterwards,  when  appli- 
cation was  made  for  it,  he  declined  to  pay,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Bishop's  course  in  connection 
with  the  Bishop  Doane  trial  was  unsatisfactory  to 
those  who  contributed  the  money,  and  whose 


87 


trustee  lie  was.  The  Bishop  replied  that  his  orig- 
inal promise  was  unconditional,  that  the  parish 
had  gone  on  relying  upon  that  source  for  so  much 
money,  and  he  begged  that  his  poor  flock  might  not 
be  made  to  suffer  from  any  error  which  he  might 
be  supposed  to  have  committed,  and  for  which  of 
course  they  were  not  responsible.  Doctor  Tyng's 
reply  came  quickly  and  to  the  point, — "You  are 
right  and  I  am  wrong,  here  is  your  money." 

As  a  Churchman,  Bishop  Chase  was  sound  and 
strong;  holding  uncompromisingly  to  the  doc- 
trine, discipline  and  worship  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  He  regarded  this  body,  not 
simply  as  the  Church  of  his  affections  and  choice, 
but  as  that  to  whose  membership  he  was  called 
by  all  the  obligations  of  duty  and  of  truth.  He 
was  strictly  regular  in  the  observance  of  liturgic 
rules ;  having  little  sympathy  either  for  those  who 
exhibited  their  reverential  devotion  by  unusual 
gestures,  postures  and  modes  of  performance  in 
divine  worship,  or  for  those  who,  from  real  or 
imaginary  principle,  sought  to  prove  their  rever- 
ence for  GOD  by  an  irreverent  handling  of  His  holy 
things.  He  did  not  adopt  a  new  practice  only 
because  it  was  not  wrong,  nor  did  he  change 
lightly  from  a  practically  good  way  to  a  theoreti- 
cally better  one.  Still,  where  he  considered  that 
no  principle  was  involved,  he  was  liberal  in  allow- 
ing others  to  follow  their  own  tastes,  though  dif- 
fering materially  from  his  own. 


88 


A  letter,  from  his  pen,  addressed  to  his  old  and 
greatly  esteemed  friend,  the  editor  of  the  Banner 
of  the  Cross,  dated  March  30,  1848,  referring  to 
an  article  which  had  just  appeared  in  the  Chris- 
tian Witness,  denouncing  Bishop  Doane,  for  hav- 
ing the  Psalter  chanted  in  Latin,  in  the  Chapel  of 
Burlington  College,  expresses  very  perfectly  his 
mind,  and  shows  the  principles  upon  which  the 
practice  of  his  life  was  based. 

"  The  eminent  person  reflected  upon  usually 
knows  what  he  is  about,  and  I  will  take  leave  to 
add  that  when  that  remarkable  day  comes  which 
shall  find  him  idle  and  no  good  work  for  Christ 
and  the  Church  in  head  or  heart  or  hand,  he 
may  'be  left'  to  reply  to  some  of  his  rebukers. 
There  could  plainly  be  but  two  objections  of  much 
weight  to  the  Latin  chanting  in  the  classic  sem- 
inary of  Burlington — neither  of  which  occurred  to 
the  aforesaid  critics.  I.  Unless  if  it  were  a  custom- 
ary thing  there  was  danger  of  its  being  regarded 
simply  as  a  musico-literary  exercise,  without  the 
proper  -devotional  feeling.  But  I  could  willingly 
leave  this  to  the  judgment  of  Bishop  Doane,  and 
not  distrustingly  nor  captiously  call  him  to  account 
afterwards.  And,  II.  That  it  would  be  likely  to 
furnish  occasion,  for  them  who  desire  occasion,  to 
call  forth  such  articles  as  that  in  the  Witness. 
Chanting  in  Latin  is  not  to  my  taste,  but  in  a  Latin 
school,  where  '  it  is  understanded  of  the  people,' 
it  is  no  offence  to  me  if  others  enjoy  the  grave  and 


89 


stately  diction  of  that  language,  when  uttered  in 
music.  No  more  has  the  Church  consecrated 
English  than  Latin." 

He  considered  that  the  ordinances  of  religion 
were  intended  for  man,  not  man  for  the  ordinances; 
consequently,  within  proper  limits,  not  going  be- 
yond the  sanctions  of  sound  doctrine  and  the  rec- 
ognized usages  of  the  Church,  whatever  tended 
most  to  the  edifying  of  individual  souls,  varying 
greatly  as  they  do  in  their  capacities  and  their 
needs,  he  allowed — not  imposing  upon  the  quiet, 
cool,  phlegmatic  Christian  a  highly  wrought  cere- 
monial, nor  denying  to  those,  whose  devotional  feel- 
ings crave  much  outward  manifestation,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  build  themselves  up  in  Christian  graces 
by  the  means  best  adapted  to  produce  that  effect. 

In  his  intercourse  with  the  clergy  of  his  diocese 
Bishop  Chase  was  always  most  courteous  and 
considerate — yielding  his  own  convenience,  when- 
ever possible,  in  deference  to  their  wishes.  While 
he  was  unsparing  in  praise  of  the  efforts  of  a 
brother,  blame  was  carefully  and  most  gently  ad- 
ministered. At  one  time,  when  preaching  in  a 
new  church,  he  was  very  painfully  annoyed  by 
some  defective  construction  of  the  pulpit,  in  the 
matter  of  light.  After  divine  service  was  over, 
while  still  suffering  under  the  pain  and  fatigue 
induced  by  this  fault,  he  somewhat  decidedly 
pointed  out  to  the  rector  the  imperfection  in  his 
pulpit  arrangements — insisting  upon  the  correct- 


90 

ness  of  his  views.  The  clergyman  maintained  with 
much  persistency  that  everything  was  as  it  should 
be.  After  his  return  home  the  Bishop  wrote  the 
following  letter,  in  reply  to  one  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  the  clergyman,  which  exhibits  clearly 
his  character  as  a  true  Christian  gentleman. 

"  REV.  AND  DEAR  BROTHER  : — 

Your  letter  is  read  by  me  with 
very  great  pleasure,  I  assure  you.     I  will  not  dis- 

fuise  that  the  manner  in  which  you  received  what 
said  about  the  pulpit  was  very  unpleasant  to  me 
— the  more  so  because  I  felt  that  I  had  a  right  to 
give  advice  and  express  an  opinion  about  a  thing 
which  affected  the  performance  of  my  own  duty 
in  your  church.  I  had  delivered  my  sermon  under 
painful  inconvenience  owing  to  the  lowness  of  the 
desk  and  the  position  of  the  light — but  it  is  no 
matter  now.  I  thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for  this 
frank,  unsolicited  communication.  I  determined 
at  the  time  that  I  would  not  allow  the  occurrence 
to  bring  over  me  any  change  of  feelings  or  conduct 
towards  you.  In  this  I  have  been  successful. 

And  now,  my  dear  brother,  let  me  turn  the  leaf 
and  make  an  apology  myself.  I  have  not  ceased 
to  regret  that  I  said  so  much.  I  ought  to  have 
been  satisfied  with  expressing  my  mind  without 
following  it  up  so  persistently.  I  was  nervous  at 
the  time,  partly  from  loss  or  deficiency  of  sleep,  and 
partly  from  these  noises  in  my  head  which  never 
cease  and  are  sometimes  very  dreadful — and  thus 
I  showed  impatience. 

Very  truly  and  affectionately 

Your  brother, 

C.  CHASE." 


91 

While  Bishop  Chase  acted  truly  and  justly  in  all 
his  dealings  he  was  also  solicitous  leat  he  should 
come  short  of  his  duty  towards  GOD.  He  very 
early  determined  that  the  old  rule  of  tythes  was 
equally  binding  upon  us  as  upon  those  to  whom 
the  direction  was  especially  given.  Accordingly 
he  set  apart  one  tenth  of  his  income,  small  as  it 
was,  and  devoted  it  to  charitable  and  religious 
purposes — he  gave  it  to  the  LORD.  So,  year  by 
year,  not  trusting  to  a  tardy  testamentary  bequest, 
bestowed  when  the  giver  can  no  longer  use  his 
means,  he  gave  of  his  substance  continually;  thus, 
we  trust,  laying  up  treasure  in  heaven,  where 
moth  and  rust  cannot  corrupt,  nor  thieves  break 
through  and  steal. 

Bishop  Chase,  as  he  says  of  himself,  wrote 
much,  but  chiefly  articles  of  an  argumentative 
character,  on  theological  questions.  Of  formal 
charges  and  addresses  to  his  clergy,  he  made  very 
few.  In  the  year  1857,  he  wrote  several  papers 
of  great  weight  on  the  subject  of  Baptismal  Re- 
generation. His  views  were  highly  regarded  by 
many  of  the  best  minds  in  the  Church,  yet  they 
excited  but  little  general  remark.  This  was  not 
much  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  the  abstruse- 
ness  of  the  matter,  under  discussion,  and  of  its 
treatment;  and  considering  the  fact  that  the  ten- 
dency of  thought  in  these  days  is  rather  in  the  direc- 
tion of  things  objective  than  of  those  subjective. 
In  1837,  he  compiled  a  history  of  the  Church  in 


92 

Vermont  which  was  published  in  Thompson's 
Gazetteer.  He  left,  also,  in  the  archives  of  the 
Diocese  a  collection  of  sketches  and  statistics  which 
the  Reverend  Dr.  Bailey,  Historiographer  of  the 
Convention,  declares  to  be  of  very  great  value. 

He  was,  in  1832,  elected  an  honorary  member 
of  the  New-Hampshire  Historical  Society.  His 
services  in  the  promotion  of  sound  literature  were 
also  acknowledged  by  other  testimonials  of  an 
honorable  nature. 

In  writing  poetry  Bishop  Chase  was  not  a  pro- 
ficient. Among  his  papers  was  found  a  scrap 
marked—"  My  first  and  last  attempt  at  poetry." 
He,  perhaps,  lacked  the  imaginative  quality  of 
mind,  or,  possibly,  the  power  to  use  it;  yet  his 
taste  in  both  poetry  and  music  was  delicate,  cul- 
tivated and  reliable.  Joking  he  seldom  indulged 
in ;  though  of  humor  he  had  a  considerable  fund 
which  shone  out  on  genial  occasions,  and  in  very 
many  friendly  letters,  which  he  wrote  most  charm- 
ingly. His  numerous  correspondents  can  testify 
that  no  one  could  better  clothe  a  fine  thought  in 
beautiful  and  dignified  language  than  could  Bishop 
Chase. 

It  was  with  men  of  thought — men  who  were 
able  to  evolve  original  ideas  from  their  own  minds, 
or  with  those  who  were  intelligent  observers  of 
that  which  was  new  in  nature,  science  and  art, 
that  Bishop  Chase  felt  most  at  home ;  and  it  was 
such,  who  best  understood  and  most  truly  appre- 


93 


elated  the  strength  and  capacity  of  his  mental 
endowments. 

His  thoughtful,  practical  Wisdom  was  very  much 
relied  upon  by  his  parishioners  and  fellow-citizens, 
who  were  accustomed  to  go  to  him  for  advice  on 
the  greatest  variety  of  subjects;  from  buying 
land,  planning  houses,  and  investing  money,  to 
healing  the  sick  and  cultivating  the  mind  and 
heart.  He  was  invariably  found  a  kind  and  judi-> 
cious  adviser. 

The  personal  appearance  of  the  Bishop  was 
most  striking.  He  had  a  handsome,  manly  fig* 
ure,  slightly  over  six  feet  in  height,  and  well  pro- 
portioned; with  a  head  and  face  finely  shaped, 
His  bearing  was  dignified,  and  his  manner,  espe- 
cially when  performing  the  public  duties  of  his 
office,  exceedingly  impressive.  His  countenance 
was  indicative  of  intellectual  strength,  and  of  a 
character  self-contained  and  Well  poised.  Few  saw 
him  without  receiving  an  impression  which  they 
never  forgot. 

Although  always  disliking  to  leave  home,  and 
returning  to  it  at  the  earliest  moment  consistent 
with  his  duties,  he  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  hos- 
pitality of  his  numerous  friends,  and,  as  a  guest, 
no  one  was  ever  more  heartily  welcomed  than  he. 
His  sincere  appreciation  of  the  kindnesses  be- 
stowed upon  him, — his  genial  conversation,  spiced 
with  rare  and  entertaining  anecdotes,  his  dignified 
presence  and  manner,  and,  withal,  his  unaffected 


94 

simplicity  made  him  a  desirable  inmate  in  every 
house  where  he  had  once  sojourned,,  His  infirm- 
ities greatly  increased  during  the  last  few  years 
of  his  life,  and,  though  the  hand  of  age  was  heavy 
upon  him,  his  humble  patience  grew  stronger  to 
the  end.  His  considerateness  in  his  family  was 
such  that  it  was  often  difficult  to  learn  his  wishes; 
he  fearing  to  add  to  the  cares  of  his  children,  who 
sought  to  fill  their  mother's  place  in  solacing  his 
declining  years.  It  is  pleasant  for  those  who  had 
that  privilege,  to  remember  the  confidence  and 
love  with  which  he  repaid  their  efforts. 

Thus  we  have  attempted  a  sketch  of  the  life, 
services  and  character  of  Carlton  Chase,  first 
Bishop  of  New-Hampshire.  It  is  and  must  be 
imperfect,  for  he  was  a  man  of  a  mind  and  charac- 
ter so  justly  rounded  and  filled  out  in  every  part, 
that  the  salient  points  whereon  to  hang  vivid 
descriptions  and  glowing  accounts,  can  hardly 
be  discovered,  A  mind  like  his,  to  many  seems 
possessed  of  no  important  powers;  just  as  the 
human  figure,  when  perfectly  proportioned,  ex- 
cites less  remark  than  when  a  single  member  of  it 
is  extraordinarily  developed.  As  was  eloquently 
said  of  him — "Bishop  Chase  was  a  man  and  a 
Bishop  of  an  antique  mould.  In  him  was  no 
weakness,  no  littleness.  Calm,  self-centred,  faith- 
ful and  true,  of  a  grand  simplicity,  he  stood  four- 
square to  every  wind  that  blew." 

So  in  the  fulness  of  time,  at  the  ripe  age  of 


95 


seventy-six  years,  the  oldest  prelate  on  the  bench, 
with  the  exception  of  the  venerahle  Jackson  Kem- 
per,  just  now  gone  to  his  rest,  died  Carlton  Chase. 
What  he  accomplished  GOD  knows.  His  work  is 
done  and  the  record  of  it  is  laid  up  in  Heaven, 
and  when  the  great  day  of  reckoning  comes,  by  it 
alone  will  he  be  judged.  He  is  in  the  keeping  of 
a  merciful  Redeemer  Who  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day.  And  in  His  just  and  loving  care  we 
who  loved  and  mourn  are  content  reverently  and 
trustingly  to  leave  him. 


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